


The Conventional Thing

by Turchinorain



Series: Twists of Time [2]
Category: Time Warp Trio (Cartoon)
Genre: Fantasy, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-06-16 09:46:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15434331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turchinorain/pseuds/Turchinorain
Summary: It's about time that Joe learns more about the finer points of time travel so Jodie takes him and Anna on a trip to the annual Time Travel Convention. But things feel different than other years. Something is brewing in the time travel community and it may not brood good news for time travelers.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is actually a new story, not a redux of an older one. So I'm pretty nervous about it and hope you guys enjoy it.

Night has long since fallen, but Chinatown is still very much active. People walk the streets. Flashing neon signs advertise noodles or beer in English and other wares in Cantonese. A young boy steps out into a dingy alleyway with a garbage bag slung over his shoulder. 

_John._  

The boy pauses at the sound of his name. He looks around but doesn’t see anyone.  

“Grandfather?” He calls, “Did you call me?” 

He doesn’t hear an answer so his grandfather must be still in the shop. The boy shrugs and proceeds to take the trash to the can. 

_John_ _._  

The boy spins around his heart in his throat. He definitely heard his name that time, and it didn’t sound like his grandfather.  

“Hello?” He calls, “Who’s there?” 

Something shifts in the shadows. The boy swallows nervously and looks toward the doorway of the shop. His legs tense, ready to make a run for it.  

_Awaken to my control John._  

A sudden coldness washes over him and everything goes dark. 

The old woman steps out of the shadows as John Louie’s body becomes relaxed. He turns toward her as she approaches him, but his eyes are blank and glassy. The woman pulls a feather from a bag tied to her hip with his name on it. She brings it to her mouth. 

“Have you done what I asked?” She whispers to it. 

The boy slowly nods, his eyes still glassy. 

“Bring them to me.” 

She hands him the basket on her arm and he takes it wordlessly. She steps aside as he walks back into his grandfather’s shop.  

Mr. Wing looks up as his grandson enters the store. He goes back to his book, waiting for him to complain about chores or beg him to allow him to look at scrolls. He looks up again when he hears none of this, but his grandson is already gone. He starts to go back to his book, but a sharp shiver runs up his spine. He removes the pipe from his mouth and opens all his senses like his old master taught. The cold, sharp feeling of dark magic comes back to him.  

“Johnny!” He calls in alarm.  

His grandson returns carrying something in a basket over his arm. His footsteps are steady but his expression is blank as he leaves again. 

“Johnny!”  

Mr. Wing rushes after his grandson, but old knees make his steps slow and halting. He makes it outside just as he sees his grandson hand the basket over to an old woman half hidden in shadows. Mr. Wing quickly reaches into the pocket of his sleeve and throws a shimmering powder at her. 

“ _Shifang_ _ni_ _de_ _baoliu_ _!_ ” 

The powder makes contact just as the woman flairs her shawl around herself. There’s an explosion of black and gold smoke and by the time it clears the woman is gone leaving behind only a feather with his grandson’s name on it.  

John Louie gives a sudden jerk and blinks around him in confusion, “What happened?” 

Before Mr. Wing can answer, there’s a sharp crackling noise and he turns to see the bright orange glow of fire coming from inside his shop. 

The woman is still cackling as she steps out of the shadows into a new location. Five members of the Sanction sit around the table, a lone candle burning in the center. The candle isn’t for light, but secrecy. The nearly invisible vapors it gives off serves to ward off any wards against any spying magic. She takes a seat at the table and uncovers the basket. Nestled amongst straw are several grotesque green eggs.  

“Excellent,” One of the members nod, “you’ve done your work well. Now, is our other piece in place for the convention?” 

“He is,” Another member answers, “For the past few months he has established himself in the center of the debates and talks and has shown his interest in changing academy.”  

“And our spellcasters are ready to enhance the eggs and our inside men are ready to plant them at the convention center,” a third member speaks up, “They will be ready to hatch by the convention’s second day.” 

The first member nods, looking satisfied, “Then phase one of our plans is going as scheduled. By the end the convention, the current Warper’s Academy headmaster will be dead, our man will be ready to take her place, and new time-traveling students will be taught under our influence.”  


	2. Chapter 1

Uncle Joe never did well with silence. Especially awkward, formal silence. He drums his fingers on the steering wheel with nervous pent up energy. He also hates driving. In the passenger seat next to him, Fina stares quietly out the window with one finger toying with a gold ring hanging around her neck. Normally he’s great with young people. A smile and upbeat demeanor are usually all it takes to get anyone to open up to him. But this young lady is no ordinary girl. Behind her expression of calm, he can feel her brooding. 

“I’m sure you’ll have a marvelous time,” He tries in a cheerful tone, “My sister and her husband are wonderful people. And my nephew Joseph has grown into quite the remarkable young man. I really think-”

“This isn’t what we agreed on,” Fina interrupts without turning from the window, “I said I’d look in on him occasionally. Check out any possible threats. You said nothing about living with him.”

“I know, but this really is for the best. Joe will need all the help and the support he can get in order to become Warp Wizard. Especially since we don’t know at this point if the current Warp Wizard is ever coming back.” 

Fina turns to him with a sharp look so full of resentment and anger that Uncle Joe’s hand slips on the steering wheel and the car swerves for a minute before he manages to right it. By the time he glances back at Fina, she’s back to calmly staring at the window. 

“The Warp Wizard is coming back,” she says softly, “We just have to be patient.”

* * *

Joe taps his pencil against his binder, completely at a loss with his biology homework. Well, not so much lost as bored out of his mind. Science isn’t exactly his strong suit. That was more Sam’s department. And it was a little hard to focus on cellular mitosis when more important things were going on. Magic powers he only sometimes had, some weird destiny that he knew almost nothing about, and yet another crazy person after him. How could anyone focus on something as mundane as homework with all that going on?

He puts his pencil down with a sigh and picks up his deck of cards instead. Not magic cards but ordinary playing cards. He shuffles them absently, just wanting to give his hands something to do. Fina had left without giving him any explanations. And since he and Anna couldn't really explain her broken window, they both got grounded for roughhousing. So that left Joe in this weird limbo for the past week. No Fina, no warping, no Ray's, just playing with this deck of cards and still wondering if he even wanted to get back into magic again. 

"I don’t even know where to start," He says out loud, "It's not I was that good in the first place."

The hush sound of the shuffling cards is soothing and actually helps him think. He stares at the blur of cards and focuses his mind on them. He tries to see the cards in his mind and bring what he wants to the surface. 

"Three... of hearts," He mumbles. 

He flips over the top card but frowns. Seven of hearts. The suit is right but the number is wrong. Still, it's closer than Joe's ever gotten so far. He shuffles the again, trying to focus harder. 

"Three of hearts, three of hearts."

Joe stops shuffling and flips over the top card. Two of hearts. Close but still no cigar. It is more encouraging though. 

"Okay, one more try," He starts reshuffling again, "This time, I know I can get it."

"Joe!"

"Ah!" The cards spray out of Joe's hands and go flying everywhere. He gives Anna an annoyed look as she stands in his doorway. "Ever hear of knocking?"

Anna rolls her eyes, "I don't know, did you hear mom calling you for the past five minutes? She wants you to come set the table. Apparently, Uncle Joe is coming over for dinner and he's bringing someone with him."

Joe frowns and starts picking up the spilled cards, "A friend of Uncle Joe's? He's never mentioned any friends before. Do you know who it is?"

"Beats me," Anna shrugs and starts to leave, "I'm just the messenger."

"Hey, hold on a sec. I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Since when do you have a taser?"

"Well, I definitely wasn't gonna let myself get kidnapped twice. So, I got one just in case," Anna chuckles, "It worked didn't it?"

"Yeah, but you also managed to tick off someone who already hated my guts," Joe couldn't help but laugh though. "But I doubt she'll be back anytime soon."

"Joe! Come set the table! Now please!" 

Joe jumps at the rising impatience in his mom's voice and rushes downstairs. His mom shoots him a look as she takes a pan of meatloaf out of the oven. 

"You must have been really focused on your homework to not hear me calling you," She chides mildly.

"Yeah, biology homework," Joe starts taking dishes out of the cabinet and sets places at the table, "Is dad still in his study?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," His mom sighs, "He's on the phone with an old friend of his. Apparently, there was a fire in his antique shop or something. Your dad's been trying to calm him down."

"Oh. That sucks." 

 The doorbell rings and before his mom can ask him to, Joe's already heading to the front door to answer it. He wonders again who Uncle Joe's friend could be. Another magician maybe? He does work as a kid's entertainer; his friend could even be a clown. One thing Joe hopes is that it's not another secret evil uncle. He opens the door and the smile freezes on his face. 

"Fina? What are you doing-"

"Helllloooo, my favorite nephew!" Uncle Joe cuts him off and draws him into a big hug, "It's so good to see you again. I'm glad you're doing well." He then lowers his voice so only Joe can hear, "Miss Fina is a bit shy. Try to be as polite and as friendly as you can." 

By shy, Uncle Joe must have meant secretly annoyed, because to Joe, Fina looks like she rather be anywhere but there right now. She meets Joe's eyes though and gives him a polite if distant smile. Joe smiles back at her. 

"It's nice to see you again, Fina. Come on in, mom made meatloaf."

"Excellent!" Uncle Joe clasps his hands together excitedly, "Jane makes the best meatloaf this side of Brooklyn."

At the dinner table, the adults and Anna do most of the talking. Fina eats without speaking or without really looking at anyone so Joe takes the opportunity to really look at her. She looks a lot different in a tan pleated skirt and pink blouse. Her curly, blond hair is loosely tied into messy braids laying over her shoulders. And her eyes are a softer blue now that she's not glaring at anyone and are almost hidden by heavy, messy bangs. It's hard to not trust her considering she saved him from a flying dagger, but Joe still knows next to nothing about her. Fina isn't exactly acting warm and friendly either. Or maybe Uncle Joe is right and she's just shy. 

"So Fina," Joe says when there's a break in conversation, "where are you from?"

"Around."

"Uh-huh..." Joe waits for her to say more but she just continues to pick at her food. He tries again, "Do you like New York so far?"

"It's alright."

She still doesn't so much as glance at him and Joe feels his patience waning quickly. It's hard to be friendly with someone who clearly doesn't want to be friends back. 

"I'm sure Fina will learn to love Brooklyn," Uncle Joe quickly cuts in on the slightly awkward pause, "Since she'll be living here."

Joe raises an eyebrow, "You're moving in with Uncle Joe?"

"Oh no, no, no," Uncle Joe dismisses with a laugh, "My humble bachelor pad is no place for a young lady. Which is why I want to think you so much Jane, for taking Miss Fina in on such short notice." 

Joe immediately starts choking on his food, "She- she's living here!? With us!?"

Fina's grip tightens on her fork and her eyes jump to his face for a split second before she's back to staring at her plate. He immediately feels back for his outburst and hopes he didn't hurt her feelings. 

"Joe, don't be rude," His mom hisses and turns to Fina with a smile, "We're very happy to have you, Fina. I hope you'll find yourself right at home here."

"Thank you, ma'am," Fina stands up and offers her a smile, "If everyone is done, may I help clear the table?"

"That's really nice of you, Fina," Joe's dad shoots him and Anna a mock stern look, "Maybe you two can learn something from her."

Anna rolls her eyes and stands up too, "Here, let me help-"

"No need."

Anna sits back down again with a confused frown. She gives Joe a look, but he only shrugs. This girl isn't exactly the easiest person to read. Joe still can't tell if she's mad shy or just plain mad. Joe's mom starts at the sound of running water and she starts to turn around. 

"Oh Fina, you don't have to-"

"I insist," Fina says without turning around or even pausing, "It's the least I can do," 

"Oh, alright then," Joe's mom turns back to Uncle Joe, "She's so... helpful. It's weird but something about her seems... familiar. It's like I've met her before."

Uncle Joe quickly shakes his head, "Uh, no, no. I'm sure you've never met her before. She's um... the daughter of a friend of a friend of mine who's currently out of the country for a while. I'd take care of her myself but as I've said- bachelor pad."

" And her and Joe should be in the same grade," Joe's dad nods, "Maybe they can help each other out sometime. Is she already registered?"

"She sure is! And she starts tomorrow.”

There’s a loud splash from the kitchen, but when Joe turns to look, Fina is still calmly washing dishes. 

“Well it’s getting late,” Uncle Joe stands up from the table and Joe’s parents do as well, “I need to get going and the kids should rest up for school tomorrow. Nephew, can I trust you and Fina will look out for each other?”

“I guess so. We’ll stick together. Right Fina?” 

“Alright.”

Joe jumps and nearly falls out of his chair when Fina’s voice comes right behind him. He didn’t even hear the sink drain let alone Fina walking behind him. Uncle Joe says his final goodbyes to the family and gets Fina’s luggage from the car. While they’re outside, can’t help but try and eavesdrop at the door. He can’t really hear what they’re saying, but looking through the window, he can see Uncle Joe looks pleading with her about something and Fina is rigid with a small frown on her face.  

“Are they fighting?” Anna whispers trying to look too, “She looks mad. Come to think of it. She looked mad during the entire dinner.”

“Nah, Uncle Joe says she’s just shy,” Joe whispers back, “She’s super quiet. She barely said a word all through dinner.”

Anna gives him a suspicious look, “You sure you didn’t do anything to her? San-Li was pretty nice to me until you showed up.”

Joe rolls his eyes, not even bothering to answer her. They both quickly move away from the door when Fina finishes talking to Uncle Joe and starts heading to the front door with luggage in hand. 

“Joe,” His mom calls, “when Fina gets back in why don’t you show her to the guest room? And Anna, I think your cat’s litter box needs to emptied.”

“Okay, mom!” 

Anna leaves to do her chore and Joe opens the door for Fina. She has a lot less than he’s expecting, just a small bag and a suitcase. Come to think of it, Uncle Joe never said how long she would be staying. 

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room,” Joe gives her a friendly smile, “And do you want me to take your bags?”

Fina smiles but shakes her head, “I can manage, thank you.”

Joe shrugs and starts to lead her upstairs. Now that he’s getting over the randomness of the situation, he tries to look on the bright side of having Fina live with them. She actually knew and worked with the last Warp Wizard. Which meant she had to know tons of stuff about time magic and what being a Warp Wizard meant in the first place. If Joe wanted to, he could learn magic in no time with her around.

“You know, I'm starting to be glad you’re here, Fina,” He says as they climb the stairs, “Last time you were here I wanted to ask you so many things but you took off before I could ask you anything. I would have called you but I never got your number. Not that you have to give me your number or anything. But anyways, I wanted to ask you some stuff. Like what exactly is time magic? Because sometimes, like when me or my family is in trouble, my hands glow green and other times I can stop time, but also, it just feels like some kind of force. And I also wanted to ask-”

“Is this my room?” Fina asks softly. 

“Huh?” Joe stops and realizes that they are in front of the guest room, freshly cleaned and the bed made by his mom. “Yeah, this is it. So, anyways, do you know how to use time magic? Do you think you can teach me how to use it? Did you teach the last Warp Wizard magic? And how long did he have to-”

“Joe?” 

“Yeah?”

“I’m afraid I’m a little tired,” Fina whispers touching her forehead, “May we speak tomorrow?”

“Um, yeah sure. I’ll stop by and get you up for school tomorrow.”

The corner of Fina’s mouth twitches downward for a split second before she gives him another soft smile. “Thank you. Good night.”

“Good-” 

Fina goes into the room and the door swings shut. 

“-night.” 

* * *

_Tiny creatures. High pitch growls. Snarling fanged mouths and blood red eyes._ _Nasty mocking laughter._ _They were everywhere. Hundreds of them. Climbing the walls. Scurrying underfoot. Clawing. Biting. Scratching. They surround him almost immediately._

Joe startles awake when he rolls out of bed and hits the hard floor, “Owwww.”

It’s been a while since he’s had a nightmare. No more spicy, deluxe, extra cheese nachos for a midnight snack that’s for sure. He glances at the clock and sees that he has a full fifteen minutes ahead of his alarm. If he tries to go back to sleep, he’ll probably end up oversleeping and being late. But what is he going to do for fifteen minutes? 

“Well technically it’s tomorrow,” He stretches with a yawn, “Maybe now I can finally get some questions answered.”

Joe quickly pulls on a pair of jeans and a shirt and leaves his room. He didn’t even know if Fina was up yet, but she went to bed early so it’s a safe enough bet that she was. Besides, he promised to get her up for school anyway. 

“Fina?” He knocks on her door softly, “Fina? Are you up yet? We should start getting ready for school.” 

There’s no noise from the other side of the door. He knocks again a little louder and when he still doesn’t hear an answer he grabs the doorknob and starts to turn.

“What are you doing!?” Anna comes up beside him and slaps his hand off the knob. “You don’t just go into a girl’s room!”

“Ow! I was trying to help get her up for school,” Joe rubs his sore hand, “Do you know if she’s up yet? If I’m late again, my first-period teacher will flip.”

Anna rolls her eyes and heads to the bathroom, “Relax, she’s downstairs fixing breakfast. Better hurry before dad eats all the pancakes.”

“Pancakes?” Joe stomach growls. His mom only fixed pancakes on Saturdays when she didn’t have to work. He doesn’t need to be told twice to hurry. Before Anna can finish closing the door, Joe is already rushing down the stairs. 

He slides into the kitchen in his sock feet and smiles cheerfully, “Morning everyone!”

“Mmphing Jmph!” His dad greets him with a mouthful of pancakes.

“John, swallow,” His mom shakes her head with a smile and turns to Joe, “morning honey. You’re just in time for breakfast. Fina got up early to cook. And clean. The whole kitchen apparently.” 

Her eyes flicker over to Fina standing at the stove. There’s something about his mom’s tone that makes Joe think that maybe she’s not too entirely happy about someone else taking over her kitchen. But as almost as soon as the thought enters Joe’s mind, Fina turns around with two plates in her hand, one loaded with a stack of pancakes and the other loaded with a pile of eggs and bacon. 

Joe’s stomach growls again and he quickly sits down, “Fina! This looks amazing!” 

Fina grants him a nod and a slight smile but nothing more. She simply goes back to the stove and starts cleaning pots and pans. 

“You haven’t tasted them yet,” Joe’s dad whispers gesturing to the pancakes, “They might be better than you-know-who's.”

Joe’s mom throws him a mock offended look which he laughs off and holds her hand. Joe rolls his eyes at the typical lovey-dovey display of his parents and takes a bite of his pancakes. He nearly drops his fork. It was like biting into a sweet, buttery cloud. The pancakes are that fluffy. He tries the bacon and eggs next and finds that they’re just as delicious. The eggs are hot and the bacon perfectly crispy and greasy. He starts to wolf everything down, barely pausing to take a breath.  Joe doesn’t think he had a meal like this his entire life. 

“Joe honey, slow down,” His mom says, “Don’t forget your manners. I don’t even think you should be eating all that before school anyway. But Fina insisted-”

“School!” Joe nearly chokes on his breakfast and jumps up from the table, “I completely forgot! I have to grab my books, my clothes, my homework! Come on Fina, we can’t be-”

He looks over towards the kitchen to find that Fina has disappeared and the kitchen is spotless. Joe shoves a few more bites of food into his mouth and rushes from the table. He can ask his questions later when they’re on their way to school. But right now, he has to hurry if he wants to catch the right bus and get to school on time. He bursts into his room and starts shoving stuff into his backpack. 

“Fina, do you need help with your backpack?” Joe yells, still cramming stuff into his own, “Because we’re going to have to leave soon!”

“I’m ready.”

Joe whirls around to see Fina standing in his doorway already wearing a backpack. She glances around his room and her lips turn down in a small frown. “Your room looks... disorganized. And messy. Would you like me to clean it for you?” 

“What?” Joe stares at her, thinking that he heard her wrong. He shakes his head though and snatches his phone off the charger, “No, there’s no time for cleaning. We’re running late, come on.”

Without thinking about it, he grabs Fina’s wrist and pulls her behind him as he rushes downstairs and out the front door. He leads her down the street, expertly weaving through the already crowded sidewalks. They make it to the bus stop just as the last person was stepping onto the bus. 

“Made it,” Joe breathes a sigh of relief and fishes his bus pass out of his pocket. He lays his pass on the scanner and when he’s clear, he goes to his pocket for a couple of dollars. “Okay Fina, I got a couple of bucks on me now but we should really get you a bus pass soon. You’ll really need it to get around-”

He turns to give her the money but she’s already scanning her bus pass too.

“Your uncle already gave me one,” she says with a small nod, “but thank you anyway.”

She moves past him to take an empty seat by the window, his usual spot, and stares out leaning her head against the glass. Joe takes a seat next to her and nervously drums his hands on his knees. Fina looks a lot like he usually looked riding the bus in the mornings, completely closed off and not so interested in talking. It could just be first day jitters though. His mom said that when he first started kindergarten, he was so scared he kept throwing up all the time. Joe doesn’t know much about Fina, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Fina was nervous too. Maybe if he puts her at ease, she’ll loosen up some and he’ll finally be able to ask her his questions. 

“So, um, do you always cook like that?” He ventures, “That breakfast you made had to be one of the most incredible things I’ve ever eaten.”

Fina expression thaws with a smile and she nods, “Thank you. I usually do prepare meals for the Warp Wizard quite often as part of my duties.”

“And what are your duties?” Joe leans forward starting to get excited, “Why does the Warp Wizard even need an assistant? I figured he’d be all powerful.”

Fina shakes her head, “Powerful or not, every good magician needs a good assistant. Houdini had his wife Bess, Pen and Teller have each other, and even Marlin had King Arthur for a while when he was a boy. Same goes for wizards, though their assistants are far less known.”

“Wow, my own assistant. That does sound kind of awesome.” Back when he did study magic, he only had Fred and Sam as assistants, maybe Anna if he bribed her. They were alright, but it’s not like they exactly knew what they were doing. Maybe he could actually improve his magic with someone like Fina helping him. 

“The Warp Wizard’s assistant, actually,” Fina mumbles quietly, going back to staring at the window, “This is only temporary. Until we find out what happened to the current Warp Wizard.”

“Oh. Ok-aaay.” 

Joe wants to say something else, maybe another question about being the Warp Wizard, but Fina’s icy gaze out the window is effectively making him freeze up. He usually has no problem talking to people. Heck, he’s never so much as experienced stage fright before. But every time he tries to think of something to say it’s either too invasive or too lame. 

So, the two of them spend the rest of the bus ride in silence. Fina doesn’t break her stare out the window until the bus pulls up to the school. Her eyes widen a bit as she takes in the flood of students hanging around and going into the school. The bus jerks a little as it brakes. Joe stands up ready to file out with everyone else, but when he glances down he notices that for the first time Fina really does look nervous.  

“You alright?” He asks cautiously. 

“I’m fine,” Fina clears her expression again and stands up, “I’m ready whenever you are, Mr. Arthur.”

“Sure, but can you not call me Mr. Arthur?” Joe smiles awkwardly, “It’s a little formal.”

Fina gives him a small bow, “As you wish, sir.”

“Yeeeaaah, the bowing is a little weird too. And you can just call me Joe.”

Fina nods and follows him off the bus. She stays a few steps behind him as they walk despite Joe’s attempts to slow down and let her walk beside him. She still doesn’t seem interested in talking either. 

“So, where’s your locker?” Joe slows down so he’s next to Fina again, “And do you have your class schedule? If not, I can show you where the main office is so you can get one.”

“My locker is next to yours and my class schedule is the same as yours,” Her steps slow minutely to stay behind him. Her eyes fall down to stare at her shoes, “Apparently your uncle planned a lot of things without telling me. But I am prepared to shadow you everywhere.”

“Everywhere?” Joe stops so suddenly that Fina almost runs into him. He chuckles nervously, “You’re joking right?”

Fina merely raises an eyebrow and Joe’s shaky grin collapses. He groans, “Seriously? As if all of this isn’t sudden and weird enough. I haven’t even decided if I want to get back into magic yet.”

Fina bites the corner of her lower lip and her hands tighten on her backpack straps. 

Joe winces, “S-sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“It doesn’t matter, sir,” She gives him a soft smile, “I’m here to serve you regardless.”

Joe only shakes his head as they reach his- or, now their- lockers. He knows he’s going back and forth a lot, but everything is starting to go a little too fast for him. First, he’s retired and living a somewhat normal life. Then he’s rescuing two lost princes in England and punching out time thieves. And now he has this weird girl calling herself his assistant and saying she’ll shadow him everywhere. Talk about zero to a hundred. Joe still hasn’t even mastered his card trick yet.

As he puts away his backpack and pulls out his AP Stats stuff, he glances over and sees Fina puzzling over a piece of paper in her hands. He leans a little closer and sees that it’s a copy of her class schedule and stapled to the corner is her locker number and combination. She actually looks lost and Joe immediately feels sorry for her. Maybe this is just as overwhelming for her too.

“Here,” Joe takes another look at the combination and grabs her locker dial, “First you go right, then left past zero to the second number, then right again to the last number and pull.”

The locker swings open and Fina gives Joe a small smile of actual appreciation, “Thank you."

“No problem,” Joe smiles back, “You can put all your stuff in there. You only need a few things for each class like a binder and pencil. And a calculator for this class. Oh, and the teacher will probably give you a textbook in class. Plus, I like to bring a highlighter because of all the formulas you have to remember. It’s not as bad as algebra though so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Fina stares at him looking a little lost and overwhelmed again, but she slowly nods and begins fishing through her backpack. Joe goes back to exchanging his own stuff when he’s suddenly wrapped in a headlock from behind.

“Dude! This has got to be the first time I’ve seen you without your headphones!” Fred practically shouts in his ear, “You finally decide to rejoin the rest of us boring folk?”

“And I might go back if you haven’t made me deaf!” Joe laughs. “Besides, I was kind of busy.”

He nods toward Fina who’s now tense and rigid and is watching Fred like a hawk. Joe remembers that she’s supposedly here to protect him and quickly pries Fred’s arm from around his shoulders. Only then does Fina relax and she turns back to her locker. Fred glances at her and then looks back at Joe.

“And she is....?”

“Duh, you don’t recognize her,” Joe rolls his eyes, “That’s Fina. The girl that saved our butts back in England.”

Fred jaw drops and he looks back at her, “Creepy maid girl? Wow, I didn’t even recognize you. You almost look normal in that getup.”

Fina’s backpack drops from her hand with a loud thud and she turns to Fred with a shock, offended look. Without missing a beat though, Fred picks up her bag and hands it back to her. 

“So, are you still grounded, dude, or are Sam and I stuck being the Dynamic Duo again?” He asks Joe, completely oblivious to the look Fina’s giving him. 

“Uh no...” Joe suppresses a laugh at Fred’s total lack of tack, “I’m finally free so we should totally do something this weekend.” 

The morning bell rings and the usual morning rush to get to class begin. Fina moves a step closer to Joe before the crowd has a chance to separate them and gives him a small nod. Joe resists the urge to roll his eyes and he and Fred start heading to class with her tailing quietly behind. 

“Hey,” Joe nudges Fred and lowers his voice, “You mind taking it easy on Fina? Uncle Joe says she’s a little shy and she can totally shut down on you in an instant. And I’m trying to stay on her good side so I can get some questions answered.”

“Yeah sure, whatever,” Fred shrugs dismissively, “She seems cool enough to hang with for a while. How long is she here for?”

“No idea.”

The three of them walk into class right as the bell rings. Sam looks up and gives them a surprised look when he sees Fina. Mrs. Baxter calls Fina over to her desk and assigns her a textbook.

“What’s she doing here?” Sam whispers over to Joe and Fred.

“Long story, I’ll tell you later,” Joe whispers back.

“Alright everyone, let’s quiet down so we can get started,” Mrs. Baxter calls out, “And Miss... Fina, you can take a seat right next to... Fred.”

Fred smiles at Fina and Joe could swear her polite smile is more like a grimace. Seems like Joe’s not the only one who feels weird about this entire thing. Maybe this will be more fun than he thought. 


	3. Chapter 2

Five hours down, two more to go. Jodie scrutinizes her face in the bathroom mirror, ready for her midafternoon, final period touch-ups. She looks alright for such a long day and little sleep. Her dreams this morning was unsettling, to say the least, and had her tossing and turning all night. She couldn’t see anything but smoke, but she did feel an overwhelming sense of uneasiness. 

“The damage isn’t too bad though,” she muses out loud, tilting her head to catch the light, “Just a touch of highlighter and lip gloss and I should be good for the rest of the day.”

Doing her makeup actually helps her think. If there’s a problem too hard or too complicated to solve, it helped her to do something with her hands. Making herself up step by step helped her approach the problem step by step. One thing she does know is that enrollment for the Warper’s Academy was going to open soon. Maybe her uneasiness has something to do with that. Only the top time travelers, or ones with high magic potential, had a chance to get in and Jodie had been working on her application for years. If she didn’t get in now, she’d have to wait another four years before she can apply again. She had made to Time Page when she was five, but the last time enrollment was open she had only been a third level warper and you had to be at least level four to even apply.

“But now I’m a level eight warper  _and_ I’m the owner of The Book,” She flips her hair confidently, “I totally got this in the bag.”

Unfortunately, just as Jodie starts to feel a little more upbeat, the bathroom door opens and the last two people she ever wants to see appear in the mirror. Her eyes meet theirs and there’s immediate tension. Cindi and Sadi. Twin sisters who happened to be the only other time travelers in school, and they both hated Jodie. And she couldn’t say she was too fond of them either. They treated the twin thing like it was a gimmick or something. They dressed alike, never went anywhere without the other, and acted like being twins made them so much better than everyone else. Today, they’re both wearing matching denim miniskirts and sleeveless turtlenecks with inverted purple and green designs. Cindi has her red, curly hair in one ponytail, while Sandi has her red, straight hair in two, one on top of the other. They both exchange a look and give Jodie a nasty smirk. 

“Look, Sandi, it's the time snob,” Cindi chuckles moving to Jodie’s left. 

“I’m surprised she’s not doing her makeup with Cleopatra right now,” Sandi giggles moving to Jodie’s right.

Jodie rolls her eyes and elects to ignore them. This is their signature move, flanking someone on both sides and then talking to each other like the person in the middle didn’t exist. Usually trash talk. And infuriatingly, it worked. The middle person ended up so uncomfortable that they practically fled in tears. But Jodie isn’t just anyone. After nearly driving herself crazy trying to get them to like her in sixth grade, Jodie just stopped dealing with them. So, she pulls out her lip-gloss and starts applying. Cindi and Sandi exchange a look of annoyance that she isn’t taking the bait and pull out their own makeup. 

“I don’t know why she thinks she’s so much better than us,” Sandi says starting to apply lipstick. 

“Because she thinks her stupid book is the only way to time travel,” Cindi replies touching up her mascara. 

They exchange their makeup tools, in front of Jodie of course, forcing her to lean back, and continue talking. 

“Oh well, it’s not like that little book of hers will be special much longer.”

“Especially since the Warper’s Academy will start opening enrollment for everyone. Not just elite wannabe’s like her.”

“What!?” Jodie nearly drops her lip-gloss and swivels her head between them, “What are you two talking about? No, they aren’t!” 

Cindi and Sandi exchange smug looks satisfied that they got her riled up. 

“Oh, you don’t know?” 

“Guess you’re not as in the loop as you thought.”

They laugh and begin to head out the bathroom, Jodie quickly gathers her stuff and follows them into the hallway. Unluckily for her, since they were the only other time travelers in school, they shared the same advanced time travel class disguised as independent study. Freddi and Samantha only have a casual interest in time travel, mostly to hang out with Jodie, so they elected not to take it. Leaving Jodie with the awful twins. 

“You guys are so full of it,” Jodie says angrily, “I swear, you two will say anything just to get under my skin.”

Sandi scoffs and rolls her eyes, “As if! It’s not like our lives revolve around you, Jodie.”

“Oh sure, and it’s a total coincidence that you two wear the same makeup as me, the same nail polish, and even the same shoes as me.”

Both the twins redden and try hard not to glance down at their shoes, nearly the exact same as the shoes Jodie bought last week. 

“Wh-whatever!” Cindi scoffs and even attempts Jodie’s signature hair flip. “You’re just jealous that for once, we know more than you. If you don’t believe us, just ask the instructor when we get there.”

“As if I’d waste my breath,” Jodie grumbles. 

The three of them step up to transporting units marked for independent studies and put their hands on the glowing pads. A cold, tingly feeling washes over Jodie and suddenly she’s in a large room with floor to ceiling windows and desks arranged in a semi-circle. The room is actually on the top floor of a high rise, above where even hover cars flew in order to ensure their privacy. Most of the desks are already filled with students, other secret time travelers from around the district. The instructor is already writing on the holo-screen and gives the three of them a look. He’s a pretty diminutive man with a pointy goatee, but his brown eyes are sharp. 

“You three are 39.270 seconds late,” He says irritably, “As those who bend time and space, there is no excuse for tardiness. Jodie, as the current owner of The Book, you have even less of an excuse.” 

Jodie feels her face get hot and tries not to look at the smug faces of Cindi and Sandi, “Um, well... you see...”

“And now you’re wasting 44.753 seconds of class time,” the instructor turns back to the holo-screen, “Please have a seat.” 

Jodie sits down quickly, trying to salvage what’s left of her dignity. First, she almost let the twins get to her, and now she was late to a freaking time travel class. Talk about a bad impression. It’s not anything new though. Once people found out that she owned The Book, expectations only increased for her. 

“Now, before we get into today’s lesson, it’s important for all of us to stay informed about the time travel community.” 

The instructor taps a few buttons on the screen and several images pop up. A large set of buildings Jodie immediately recognizes as the Warper’s Academy, a picture of the current headmistress Nora Westbourne, and few other people Jodie didn’t recognize. 

“As you may know, the Warper’s Academy will soon be accepting applicants for their upcoming enrollment period,” the instructor continues, “for those of you who have  _magicae_ _nativa_ , you’ve probably been building your applications for quite some time now. Most likely at least six years, approximately seven months, four days, two hours, five minutes and 15.091 seconds.” 

Jodie stifles a yawn. She already knows all of this and the lack of sleep is starting to get to her. And this particular instructor isn’t exactly stimulating to listen to. He’s literally obsessed with time, every millisecond of it. She can’t decide if it’s a gift or a curse. 

“But as those who traverse across space and time, you should all be aware of the shifting climate,” he continues, “Can anyone tell me what important discussions regarding the academy are taking place right now?”

“I know!” Cindi calls out, “The latest debate going around is whether or not the academy should be made open to normies.” 

“No colloquiums please, proper terminology only,” the instructor sighs but nods, “Yes, there is currently debate as to whether or not to open enrollment to anyone interested in time travel.  _Magicae_ _nativa_ notwithstanding. Can anyone tell me what this means?”

“That anyone can get into the Warper’s Academy now!?” Jodie bursts out before she can stop herself. 

She gets looks from around the room and Sandi snickers, “Wow Jodie, elitist much? I didn’t know you hated normies so much.”

“I don’t hate them,” Jodie huffs, “I’m just... worried about the implications of total open enrollment. That’s all.”

“Implications should always be thoroughgoingly considered when making any change to time, present, past, or future,” the instructor nods, “Good Jodie. Let’s take a moment to trace a possible chain of events starting with the open enrollment of the academy.”

The instructor makes a gesture and a large flow chart is projected in the middle of the room. In the first box, “Academy Open Enrollment” appears. 

“Now, in order for the Warper’s Academy to be open for everyone, everyone would have to be aware of time travel.” 

He makes a motion with his fingers and “Spread of Time Travel Knowledge” appears in the next box. 

“Next come two separate possibilities, what we call time diverges, may take place.”

The flowchart splits into two different paths. 

“First path and the most likely, an influx of time travelers emerge. The influx could cause the academy to open enrollment year-round instead of every four years. And finally, a continued influx may have the possibility of the academy opening more schools.”

There’s an excited murmur around the circle of desks. Jodie sinks into her seat a little. 

“Now, let’s go back to that deviation. Instead of an influx of time travel students, time travel can instead become completely normalized. If time travel is normalized amongst those with m _agicae_ _nativa_ and those without, time travel becomes more widely used for everyday instances. If time travel is used for everyday instances, then the rules of time travel must be more widely spread. The most efficient way, of course, would be through schooling. Integration into the public-school system to be more precise. Thus, this timeline could end with the total discontinuation of the Warper’s Academy.”

There’s now a collective gasp around the room. No one looks excited now. 

“Though I wouldn’t worry. Chances are the discussions will remain just discussions. The time travel community hasn’t changed in one hundred fifty years, eight months, two weeks, two days, four hours, five minutes, and 6.981 seconds. Now, on to our lesson for today...”

 Jodie pulls out her digibook, ready to record notes, but her mind isn’t on the lecture anymore. She swears she isn’t a snob or an elitist, but the Warper’s Academy opening up to just anyone would be so... different. The academy is supposed to be serious training for time travel. You didn’t go there to get good. The good go there to get better. And the best become amazing. If it opened up to everyone, what would happen to the purely magic based courses? People without actual magic abilities couldn’t participate, so would they just be gotten rid of? The curriculum would be a total mess. 

Oh, who was she kidding? Jodie’s real concern was that all of her hard work, all of the years that she tried to be better than the average time traveler, would be for nothing. If they just let any time travelers in, then she might as well have goofed off all this time like everyone else. And where would the prestige of the Warper’s Academy go if it became open to anyone who just walked in? This had to be why she was feeling so uneasy this morning. A shift like this could change the what warping meant forever. 

Jodie mind drifts on these depressing thoughts for the rest of the class period. She doesn’t even realize the class is over until she notices everyone packing up to leave. The entire lesson went by without her even noticing. 

“One more reminder before you leave everyone,” the instructor says as he also packs up, “The Time Travel Convention will arrive in nineteen hours, twenty-eight minutes, and 12.019 seconds. And it’ll be held in our very own Brooklyn Exposition Center in this very year. I won’t require attendance as credit but I highly recommend going.” 

The Time Travel Convention. Jodie nearly forgot. She went every year to meet new warpers, get time travel tips, talk to actual academy graduates, and it really helped her to become a better warper. She was really looking forward to going but now she doesn’t know. 

“I don’t know if I’m really in the mood to go,” Jodie sighs, “But maybe if I go I can ask someone about the academy.”

Just then, a small flash of green catches her eye. Jodie glances down at her bag and notices a piece of paper sticking out between the pages of The Book. She looks around to make sure that nobody is watching and carefully pulls it out.

_Time Magic is in_ _jeopardy_ _. Must attend the Time Travel Convention._ _Tell_ _J_ _. JB might be able to help. - N &T_

Jodie gasps, “I knew it! It has to be because of the Academy going public. J must be Joe because he’s the next Warp Wizard. I have to tell him and Uncle Joe right away.” 

* * *

School finally let out and Joe is looking forward to the weekend. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do yet, but he knows he’s finally not going to spend it in his room. Even the weather seems to be in his favor today. The weather is warm but not hot and most of the rain puddles have dried up. He’s actually enjoying himself sitting in the bleachers near the school’s athletic field waiting for Fred to finish baseball practice. Fina and Sam sit on either side of him talking. It’s actually a pretty amusing conversation. Fina seems to be completely at a lost adjusting to the idea of school and she kind of sounds a lot like Fred. 

“So, you guys do this every day?” Fina groans, “For an entire eight hours? At one time?”

“Not every day, Monday through Friday though. And it's not that bad,” Sam gives her a weird look, “Fina, have you never gone to school before?”

“No,” Fina huffs blowing her bangs up, “And I see now why I haven’t. It’s a complete and utter waste of time. And if there’s one thing I do not do, it's waste time.”

“So what else is it that you do?” Joe jumps in before Sam can give her the importance of school lecture that he always gives Fred. “I’m still really curious.”

“Well, the Warp Wizard’s greatest asset and weapon is time. As their assistant, my main job to make sure that they always have enough of it. I perform menial tasks and run errands so they don’t have to waste time doing it themselves. I also serve as the Warp Wizard’s personal protector and healer. Which is why I’m here... for you. To protect you. For a while at least.”

“A protector? You mean like a bodyguard?” Joe exchanges a mildly disbelieving look with Sam. Fina doesn’t exactly look like the buff, bodyguard type. Sure, she stood up to San-Li, but that was more like a personal, typical girl fight than an actual fight. And thankfully no one else seemed to have a beef with Joe except for that crazy time thief. 

“Um, thanks but I don’t think I need a bodyguard all the time,” Joe rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, “Maybe just during warps and stuff but even then, I don’t think-”

“Heads up!”

Joe looks up to see a stray baseball flying directly towards them. Sam screams and cringes beside him as Joe can do nothing but close his eyes and hold his hands up, trying to at least block the ball from hitting him directly in the face. After a minute of not feeling anything, he slowly opens his eyes. The ball is less than an inch from his face, caught at the literal last second by Fina.

“Whoa!” Joe and Sam both gasp. 

“Hey, are you guys alright?” Fred yells starting to run over to them. 

Fina glances at Joe, “You alright, sir?”

Joe nods and Fina throws the ball back towards the field. The ball sails through the air and Fred has to quickly backpedal and jump at the last minute to catch it. 

“Fina that was incredible!” Joe exclaims once he gets over his shock, “I think you just saved my face from being broken.”

“Um, I don’t know much about sports, but I don’t think you’re supposed to catch baseballs without a glove,” Sam says looking a little green, “look at your hand.”

Joe glances down and his stomach lurches. Fina’s middle and ring finger are bent at weird angles and starting to swell. She glances down at them and uses her other hand to fold the broken ones into her palm. 

“Don’t do that!” Sam shrieks jumping up, “Joe! Take her to the nurse's office! Call 911!”

“No need,” Fina unfolds her hand and her fingers are good as new.

“Cool,” Joe whistles and shoots a smug look at Sam, “Pretty cool huh? My own bodyguard who can heal.”

Sam just rolls his eyes still looking green. 

Eventually, the baseball team finishes their practice and come back outside after they shower and change clothes. Fred meets them at the bleachers and the four of them begin to head towards Anna’s school, with Fina trailing silently behind Joe. 

“So, what are we doing this weekend?” Fred asks, “After Ray’s I mean. We should really do something since the weather is decent. Like some football in the park, or the batting cages.”

“As absolutely fun as that sounds, I actually have other plans,” Sam says, “My mom and I heading to Florida to visit my great aunt. But you know, have fun tackling each other in the dirt and everything.”

“You are such a killjoy,” Fred punches Sam lightly in the shoulder, “Getting tackled would probably do you some good.”

“Ugh, I know. I’m definitely missing out on a life-altering experience.”

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but you’re also right.”

They reach Anna’s school, still trying to decide what to do for the weekend and find Jodie waiting with her on the front steps. Anna looks excited while Jodie looks mildly worried. Joe casts a slightly suspicious look around, wondering if this is another ambush. 

“Joe! Finally,” Jodie spots him and rushes over, “Please tell me that you don’t have any plans this weekend.”

“As a matter of fact,  _we_ don’t,” Fred says, “What’s up?”

“Um, I was talking to Joe,” Jodie rolls her eyes and pulls a piece of paper out of her version of The Book, “I got this when I was in my Advanced Time Travel class. I talked to Uncle Joe and he said we should definitely go.”

“Let me see that,” Joe takes the paper from her and reads it for himself. A Time Travel Convention? Uncle Joe once took him to a magic convention years ago, before he got The Book even, but Joe doesn’t remember much of it. What really concerns him is the whole time magic thing being in jeopardy. He didn't know what that meant, but it doesn't sound good.

“Okay, this sounds bad but what exactly does this mean?” Joe asks giving it back to Jodie, “And why are you telling me?”

“Ugh, Joe you really need to get in the community loop,” Anna cuts in impatiently, “The Warper’s Academy might be in trouble and Jodie needs us to go with her to the convention.”

“Well technically, I only need Joe. But it would be good for you to go to your first one. Hopefully not your last one.”

“Hold on, hold on,” Joe holds his hand up and gives Anna a look, “Who says you’re going anywhere? I don’t even know if I’m going anywhere.” 

Anna rolls her eyes, “Oh, come on, Joe! This could fun! And it would be the best way to get you back into magic.”

“And it could give us something really cool to do this weekend,” Fred puts in, “Come on Joe!”

Joe hums, still feeling hesitant. Time Magic and the Warper’s Academy being in danger sounds bad for sure, but he doubts that he can do anything about it. Still... anything is better than being cooped up at home. He glances at Fina. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this do you?” He asks, “About the convention or the danger part?”

Fina shrugs, “Time Magic always seems to be to going through some political upheaval or another, but I doubt anything will seriously happen. And the Warp Wizard is usually expected to attend the convention but-”

“See, there’s no danger and you have to attend!” Fred cuts her off excitedly, “We should listen to Fina here and definitely go.”

“I didn’t quite say that-”

“For once, I kind of agree with Fred,” Sam shrugs, “Joe if you’re still indecisive about magic. A convention does seem to be the safest place to go and get information. Who knows, you might be even able to network with other warpers and find out how to use The Book.”

“Way to make it sound boring,” Fred mumbles under his breath. 

Joe ignores him, “Alright, I guess you have a point. I guess we’re going to the Time Travel Convention.”

“Thank you,” Jodie sighs in relief, “Pack enough stuff for Sunday. I’ll meet you in Joe’s room later and we can warp to my place to spend the night so we can go to the convention in the morning.”


	4. Chapter 3

The Brooklyn EXPO center. A large, single story building with top to bottom windows. Nice but nothing fancy.  At least, that’s how it used to look. Joe, Fred, and Anna nearly break their necks craning trying to see where it disappeared above their heads. The windows were also polished, mirror black, making it impossible to see anything inside.  

“This is the expo center now?” Joe is wide-eyed in shock, “This is incredible.” 

“But why is it so dark inside?” Fred asks, “Did you get the dates wrong or something?” 

“No, I didn’t get the dates wrong,” Jodie huffs, “They’re black-out windows, duh. Time travel isn’t exactly an open thing in this time period. So they formatted the windows to keep normies from seeing in and discovering magic. They use it all the time for home security.” 

“But what’s to stop people from just coming in?” 

“The doors are locked. Again, duh. To get in, you have to either use magic or follow me,” Jodie waves her hand and they follow her to the side of the building where a group of machines is. 

 Joe recognizes them from the time the three of them first met their great-granddaughters and Jodie teleported them into her room. And just back then, Jodie shows them how to step onto the pad and put their exposition passes on the screen. There’s a strange feeling of being weightless and everything goes fuzzy before coming back into focus again. When it does, Joe’s jaw drops.  

There have to be hundreds of people inside, and dozens of booths and displays. The main stage takes up one part of the room with rows and rows of chairs set up before it. But it was the booths themselves that caught his attention. Booths that advertised potions, booths that showed off spells. Things that Joe only read about in fantasy books are display. Rings that made the wearer invisible. Glowing liquids that made stuff float. Crystals that helped you speak in another language. Costumes from different time periods. To be honest, it’s almost a little overwhelming.  

But while Joe, Fred, and Anna are standing around gap-jawed and stunned, Jodie shakes her head in mild disappointment.  

“It’s not nearly as big as it was last year,” Jodie sighs, “Or the year before that. This can’t be good news.” 

Joe tears his eyes away from the scene before him to give Jodie an incredulous look, “What are you talking about? This place is incredible!” 

“She’s right. It’s lacking a lot of the things it had a few years ago,” Fina speaks up suddenly making everyone jump. She’s so quiet that it’s easy to forget she’s there. She hands Joe a pamphlet. “See?” 

Joe takes the pamphlet from her and skims through it. Panels, special guests, speakers, a map. All standard expo-stuff expect that it all has to do with time travel. One of the panels is about vacationing and time travel. Joe takes mental note of that and turns to Fina with a shrug. 

“It seems alright to me.” 

“Almost no magicians,” Fina points to the special guest section, “See? The only magician of any note is Jeremy Beauchene. One of the Great Lords of Magic. Usually, there is at least four present.” 

Jodie gasps and snatches the pamphlet from Joe, “She’s right! There’s almost no one here!” 

“Who’s Jeremy Beauchene?” Anna asks, “And what’s a Great Lord of Magic?” 

Everyone looks at Fina, waiting for an explanation. Fina’s brow furrows and she looks at Joe in confusion, “Sir, do you not know anything about the magic community or the hierarchy?”  

Joe shrugs awkwardly, feeling a bit embarrassed. Maybe he should have asked Uncle Joe about this sort of stuff more when he was studying magic with him. Fina sighs, blowing her up bangs a little and explains. 

“Without order, magic would cause total chaos and mayhem,” She starts, “So, centuries ago several great families came together from different magic kingdoms and created a council to help keep things in check. The Beauchenes are powerful magicians who created the first magic wands from a magical tree that was the first link between the magic world and the normal world.” 

“I totally knew that,” Jodie says quickly, “I just... forgot. It’s not like he’s a time traveler or anything. He doesn’t even do time magic.” 

“I believe he’s our current advocate though,” Fina looks at Joe, “You should really start learning these things as a potential Warp Wizard. You should be able to read all of this in The Book.” 

“I’m um, not so great at reading it,” Joe chuckles, “But hey, maybe you can tutor me sometime.” 

“If you wish, sir,” Fina nods nicely enough but Joe has a weird feeling that she isn’t too excited about it. But before he can decide whether or not to say anything, Fred loses his patience. 

“So, are we just going to stand here talking or actually go look at stuff?” 

“Ooh! Let’s check out that potion booth! No! No! That artifact exhibit! Oh no, wait! We  _have_ to check out those spell books!” Anna points in three different directions, looking as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning. “Ooh! What’s over there!” 

She points to a section in the center that has temporary walls around it to separate it from the other exhibits. There are two makeshift doorways where a lot of people are going in and out. It looks the coolest so they all agree to check it out first. They go in through the marked entrance. The first thing Joe notices is that the light is immediately dimmer inside. Not completely dark, but definitely not as bright as it was outside. The second thing he notices once his eyes adjust was that this section of the exhibit is full of stuff about World War II. They’re handed a set of wireless headphones and as soon as Joe puts it on, a guided tour begins.  

 _“In the 21_ _st_ _modern human century_ _of Earth_ _, World War II was considered the biggest global war involving_ _over 100 million_ _people, from over thirty_ _countries, and_ _spanned over six years,”_ a voice began.  _“Even without the aid of magic, this was one of the deadliest conflicts of non-magical, or normie’s, history causing up to eighty-five million_ _causalities_ _.”_  

Walking around, Joe takes a look at all the warplanes, uniforms, a map of the globe with the countries involved marked with different colored dots, and other war memorabilia. This stuff Joe remembers from history class.  

 _“Please enter the next part of the exhibi_ _t_ ,” the voice instructs.  

The next part of the exhibit is more intense. Sounds of brutal gunfire agonized screams, and fighting play in the background. Holograms that are nearly lifelike display soldiers dying and shooting at each other. Knee-high holograms model cities, towns, and countrysides being torn apart by war. There are even sections are the ocean where submarines fire torpedoes at each other, and naval boats fire missiles. Joe flinches as he walks by a town being bombed. He can almost feel the heat of the blast. 

 _“Even without the use of magic, the war was destructive and brutal. Different ideologies between the Allie forces and the Axis powers_ _wreaked havoc for the entire world. Both military and civilians died of massacres, disease, bombings, and gunfire. Please enter the next part of the exhibit.”_  

Joe can’t leave fast enough. The holograms of people dying are just a little too hardcore for him. The next part of the exhibit has life-sized figures of world leaders with their bios on plaques above their heads and a scale model of the United Nations Headquarters. It’s boring compared to the last exhibit, but it’s a welcome break. The voice over the headphones continue. 

 _“Despite the horrors of the war, it proved to be_ _necessary_ _for the overall good of the world as history now shows. After the end of the war, the United Nations was formed in order to maintain world peace. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948. And those who_ _committed_ _war crimes were brought to justice. But that wasn’t always the case. Please enter the next part of the exhibit.”_  

At first, the next part looks exactly the same, but then the images flicker and change completely. Most of the world leaders are now kneeling in surrender positions. Adolf Hitler, Hirohito, and Benito Mussolini have scary triumphant expressions on their faces. And the United Nations building now has a giant swastika on it.  

 _“During the height of the war, a ripple was sensed in the time stream. T_ _he_ _odds became tilted in favor of the Axis powers. A vision revealed a possible outcome of Germany winning the war. In order to maintain the correct historical_ _flow, the time travel community and the magic community joined forces. Please_ _enter the next part of the exhibit.”_  

In the next room, the room is filled with model warplanes in the middle of battle.  

 _“Magician procured creatures whose sole instinct was destruction and provided simple mind control spells in order to control them.”_  

Joe jumps as realistic holograms of leathery skinned, big-eared creatures with long arms and sharp claws appeared on the Axis’s planes.  He shudders but there’s something about them that seems familiar. 

 _“Time Agents with the collaboration with The Warp Wizard and Time Pages planted creatures called_ _Moglins_ _in German_ _territory_ _and air hangers in order to_ _sabotage their planes. But there_ _were_ _some unforeseen consequences.”_  

More holograms of Moglins pop up all over the other planes. 

 _“The Time Agents assigned to the period were unable to_ _adequately_ _perform the spells to keep the_ _Moglins_ _under control. They spread to both sides of the war, causing destruction wherever they went. Specially contracted magicians had to be called in to regain control and keep knowledge of magic out of the public awareness. Please enter the final part of the exhibit.”_  

The last section has the most people gathering around two display cases separated by a wall. Large signs say, “NO BRIGHT LIGHTS” in all caps. The first display is open at the top with a handler comforting a small furry creature that Joe immediately recognizes. An actual, real-life Mogwai from a movie that Joe was obsessed with when he was younger. The second display is a sealed glass case holding a morbidly stuffed Gremlin. 

 _“Today,_ _Moglins_ _, or as non-magic people call them, Gremlins, have become part of_ _n_ _ormie lore. This was thanks in part to the general chaos of the war but also a normie by the name of Stephen Spielberg,_ _Gremlins should serve as a reminder that mixing advanced magic with time travel is very dangerous. You may now_ _exit the_ _exhibit_ _.”_  

At the exhibit’s exit, they all trade in their headphones for a stuffed Gremlin toy.  

“That exhibit was intense,” Anna shudders, “who knew that Gremlins were real?” 

“You’d be surprised just how many mythical creatures are real.” 

Uncle Joe comes up to them with a big smile. Jodie and Anna practically jump into his arms with huge grins on their faces. Fred settles for a friendly fist bump while Fina gives her signature polite, distant smile.  

“And how’s my favorite nephew?”  

Joe feels himself go stiff and awkward as Uncle Joe wraps him in a crushing hug. Hugging his uncle still felt weird sometimes, but he toughs it out and pats him on the back.  

“I’m good Uncle Joe. How are-” 

“Oh, I’ve been busy. Busy busy busy,” Uncle Joe laughs, but it sounds it a little hectic, “I know you’re probably enjoying the convention but I have some people that I really think you should meet.” 

“Uncle Joe, does this have anything to do with the message I received about time magic being in trouble?” Jodie asks worriedly.  

“We’re doing our best to stay ahead of things,” He sighs, “the problem is, no one really knows if there’s a problem or not.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“Well, you see...” Uncle Joe rubs the back of his neck, “There are some in the magic community... who don’t consider time magic as real magic.” 

“What!?” Anna bursts out angrily, “How can they possibly not consider time magic as real magic? Of course, it’s real magic! Who’s saying this?”  

“No one knows where it started, but what’s important is that we get ahead of it. Come, come, there are two people I would like you to meet. They might be able to help us.” 

They follow him, weaving through the crowds of convention goers and booths until they get to two people. One is a tall, like, six-foot tall, older woman with pink hair tied back into a tight looking knot. She’s wearing formal dark blue robes buttoned up to the neck. The other is a round, bulky man with dark skin and thinning blue hair. He’s wearing a suit loaded with badges but what stands out the most is a badge that Joe recognizes as one of the symbols on The Book. The two of them barely glance at Joe and the others, but their expressions warm up when they see Uncle Joe. 

“Well if it isn’t Joe the Magnificent!” the man clasps Uncle Joe’s hand in a firm handshake and pats him on the shoulder so hard he nearly falls over, “Good to see you, old man!” 

“G-good to see you too,” Uncle Joe clears his throat and starts introducing everyone. Turns out the woman is Nora Westbourne, the headmistress of the Warper’s Academy and the man is Chief Reginald Bowie, the chief of the time police.  

Joe swallows nervously and notices that Jodie looks a little awed too. The headmistress of the Warper’s Academy and the chief of the time police? It was worse than meeting the dean or principle. Joe can’t help but remember every accidental warp he ever did and every time he almost changed history. If he was still studying magic, these would be the people he would have had to impress. And recently his warp resume has been a bit...lacking.  

“So, this is the young man who may become the Warp Wizard soon,” the headmistress looks at Joe with piercing gray eyes, “I’ve heard of you.” 

“Thanks, but, I’m, um, not really... I’m kind of on warping hiatus,” Joe struggles to explain. He just doesn’t like the way they’re looking at him. “It’s kind of complicated.” 

“So, you are no longer practicing your magic?” Headmistress Westbourne raises an eyebrow, “How disappointing. How will you ever expect to improve?” 

“Well, I... um...” 

“Hmph, I’ve certainly heard of your shenanigans,” Chief Bowie snorts, “You and your friends traverse around the space-time continuum like it’s a playground. Like unsupervised children.” 

Joe narrows his eyes and can’t help but saying, “Because I was an unsupervised kid back then.”  

“You know, I think that we have other matters to discuss-” Uncle tries to cut in. 

Headmistress Westbourne holds up her hand to stop him though, still staring at Joe, “Young man, youth is not an excuse for not honing your gift. Are you aware that most time travelers start at the age of five?” 

“Not all Warp Wizards start young,” Fina quietly, but firmly puts in.  

“Yeah and we just saved some princes in medieval England a few weeks ago,” Fred adds indignantly.  

Fina elbows him with an annoyed look on her face, but the chief is already giving Joe a hard look.  

“I don’t recall authorizing any rescue missions,” He says angrily, “Do you realize how dangerous it is to go rogue as a time warper? Anything could have happened.”  

Jodie flushes and shrinks back a little.  

“I believe we’re way off topic here,” Uncle Joe laughs uncomfortably. 

“I did what I had to do,” Joe’s jaw clenches, “Literally. Elizabeth Woodville invading my dreams and beg for my help. What else was I supposed to do?” 

“I applaud you for stepping up to your responsibilities, but you really need proper training and a mentor,” Headmistress Westbourne presses, “Perhaps if you may ask your uncle to train you-" 

Joe barely stifles a snort of angry laughter. It’s just too ironic in a completely not funny way that he quit because Uncle Joe never had the time to train him, and now he’s getting chewed out for it, and on top of that, the people chewing him out expect him to ask Uncle Joe to train him. But even as Joe feels his irritation rise, he takes one look at his uncle’s face and sees how guilty and sad he looks. Joe releases his anger in one breath and runs a hand down his face.  

“Sorry, but I think I need some air. Excuse me.”  

He starts to leave the group and Fina begins to follow him. He sighs again, “Fina, I know you’re just doing your job, but can you not follow me right now? I want to be alone.” 

Fina looks at him like she’s about to argue, but then her eyes fall and she stops walking. 

“As you wish, sir.” 

 Her voice is barely a whisper before it disappears into the crowd.  

Joe feels a little bad, but he really does need to get away for a minute. What exactly did those two expect from him? He was a kid when he got The Book and could barely get in touch with his uncle back then. And it’s not like things are so different now. So, what if he, Fred, and Sam weren’t the best time travelers back then? Didn’t mean they couldn’t be great now. As a matter of fact, if Joe brought his book out of retirement right now he could learn to be the best Warp Wizard ever. 

Walking a little away from the main hubble of the convention brings him to a door marked “Roof Access. Do Not Enter”. Good, he could use the fresh air. Joe looks around to make sure no one sees him and goes in. Instead of a teleportation pad, there’s actually a set of stairs. Joe steps on ready to climb but the stairs begin moving up automatically like an escalator.  

“Well it saves me a lot of effort walking up,” he mumbles as it brings him to the top where another door is.  

He opens it and is greeted by glaring bright sunlight. Joe steps out, blinking and takes a deep breath of the warm, fresh air. He goes over to the railing and leans on it, looking out at 22nd century Brooklyn. A lot has changed with taller buildings, hovercars, and the occasional flying robot. But then again, a lot of things are the same. It’s kind of weird and yet kind of comforting how Joe can still find certain landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge, or Prospect Park, and even a little of Manhattan.  

Joe suddenly tenses when he hears the door open behind him, thinking that security is coming to bust him for being on the roof.  

“Oh,  _excusez_ _moi_ , I didn’t realize anyone was up here,” A voice with a soft, lilting French accent says behind him, “But do you mind if I join you?” 

Joe breathes a silent sigh of relief and starts to turn around to tell whoever it is he doesn’t mind, and his mind practically shuts down. It’s the girl of his dreams. Literally. The girl with dark skin and long brown hair he dreamed about back in England. Except this time, she’s in complete focus.  

“I-I don’t mind,” He says quickly, hoping he wasn’t staring for too long, “I pretty sure this roof is big enough for two people.” 

She giggles a little and walks up next to him, leaning on the railing too, “ _Merci. Je_ _m’appelle_ Joleena.” 

“ _Je_ _suis_ _,_ _Joseph,”_ Joe says, suddenly super grateful that he took all those years of French class in school. 

“Ah,  _tu parle français_ _, Joseph_ _?”_ She smiles at him warmly, sounding surprised.   

“Only a little,” he says quickly, “And you can call me Joe.” 

“Joe it is then.” 

She holds out her hand and they shake briefly before they both turn back to the city again. They fall into an oddly comfortable silence with Joe stealing glances at her from the corner of his eye. Yep, it’s definitely her. Same chocolate skin, same long wavy brown hair falling down to her back. She’s a little taller than he expects, but then he realizes that she’s wearing heels. Actually, even though she seems to be his age, she’s dressed like she’s on her way to a business meeting. A short pencil skirt, blouse, and a short sleeve blazer draped over her shoulders. All in shades of purple except for two gold bangle bracelets on each arm. Joe knows he should be more cautious considering that the last girl he dreamed about and met in real life tried to kill him twice, but Joleena doesn’t seem like the psycho type. His eyes travel up to her face and he finds her covertly checking him out too. Their eyes meet and she quickly looks away but Joe already feels himself starting to grin.  

“So...” He says hoping to break the silence, “Is this your first time at the Time Travel Convention?” 

“Time Travel Convention  _oui_ _,_ ” Joleena nods, “But I have attended other magic conventions before.” 

“So, you’re a magician?” Joe’s smile grows a little bigger, “So am I.” 

“Do you mind if I smoke?” She gives him a dazzling smile, “It is part of the reason I came up here.” 

Even though he isn’t the biggest fan of cigarette smoke, Joe finds himself shaking his head, giving his permission.  Joleena gives him a grateful smile and reaches in the space between her bracelets and her wrist with two fingers. And then, out of thin air, she pulls out one of those fancy cigarette holders and a cigarette.  

“Nice trick,” Joe says trying to sound casual. It was actually a pretty simple trick, something he studied before but hadn’t mastered yet.  

“Trick?” Joleena raises an eyebrow and fits the cigarette onto the end of the holder, “Hmm, I suppose you could call it a trick.” 

She then puts the holder in her mouth, snaps her fingers, and the end of the cigarette bursts into purple-tinted flame making Joe jump. She giggles a little at his reaction, but he can feel his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.  

“Another trick,” she says with a wink.  

“Cool, cool,” Joe clears throat awkwardly. His hands feel a little clammy so he starts to wipe them on his jeans when he feels his deck of cards. He smiles and pulls it out, “Can I show you one of mine?” 

Joleena blows out a stream of smoke and shrugs, “I suppose.” 

Joe’s smile falls at her less than enthusiastic response. But his uncle taught him how to deal with a tough crowd. He starts shuffling and attempts to keep the conversation going, “So are those bracelets magic or can you always pull stuff out of thin air?” 

“These things?  _Non,_ the magic is all mine,” She says a little smugly, “But gold can be used as a conductor with magic. As I’m sure you know, being a magician yourself.” 

“Yeah, I totally knew that,” Joe fans the deck of cards toward her, “Go ahead. Pick one.” 

Joleena gives him a look, picks a card to glance at quickly, and puts it back in the deck, “I am correct to assume your specialty is party tricks,  _oui_ _?_ How... quaint.” 

Joe frowns at the condescending tone as he shuffles the deck, “Yeah well, maybe some of us like to have a little fun with our magic.”  

He narrows his focus and tries to both locate her card and think of a really good place to put it. The desire to impress her was strong. She’s not even looking at him anymore. She’s back to staring out over the city. Glancing up, he sees that some of her hair is pulled back and held with a clip. He smiles as a sudden idea comes to mind. He quickly locates her card and makes his move, putting all his energy into it. Once it’s done, he puts the deck back in his pocket, folds his arms, and leans against the railing, trying to look the picture of cool and confident.  

“Do you want to know where your card is?” He asks. 

“I believe that’s the point of your little trick, _non_?” She taps some of the ash off her cigarette, still not even looking at him.  

“Let down your hair.” 

Joleena does glance at him then and reaches for the back of her head. Her expression changes into one of shock though as she finds a card now twisted into her hair like a bow which she quickly untangles and unfolds.  

“This is my card,” she says, “but where is my-” 

“Right here,” Joe pulls her clip out of his pocket with a little flourish. “But if I may say so, you look much better without it,” He adds with a wink. 

Joleena laughs as her hair starts blowing around in the breeze. It whips around her face wildly and the scent of vanilla wafts toward Joe. Joleena struggles to tame her hair with her hands, “ _Merci_ , but I prefer my hair not in my face. May I have it back s _'il_ _vous_ _plaît_?” 

“S-sure.” 

Their hands brush as he hands it back to her and Joe has to wonder if it was on purpose. Joleena seems to be in a much better mood as she gathers her hair back and starts to reclip it.  

"It seems I underestimated your prowess,” Her condescending tone is gone, replaced by genuine interest. “How long have you been studying magic?” 

“Forever really,” Joe smiles fondly at the memory, “Ever since I was a kid, I loved magic. It was the most amazing thing in the world to me. Being able to do things that no one else is able to do. Testing the limits of the universe itself.” 

“I feel the same way,” Joleena nods, “I’ve been studying magic since I was three and I still feel like there’s so much more to learn.” 

“Right, but that’s what’s so great about it. There’s like no limit to what you can do or dream.  I just wish it didn’t take so long to learn it.” 

“Well, what do you expect? Something as vast and powerful as magic takes time to study and learn.” 

“Yeah but that gets boring pretty quick,” Joe snorts, “Am I right?” 

He laughs expecting her to laugh with him, but her smile is quickly dropping.  

“It’s not a matter of being boring, it’s a matter of being responsible,” She says, “You know, that right?” 

Joe groans, “Yes, I’ve heard it a thousand times. Magic is a big responsibility. You need to take magic seriously blah, blah blah. When did magic stop being fun?” 

“Maybe when people like you started taking advantage of it,” Joleena’s condescending tone is back and she’s looking at Joe with a little less warmth in her eyes.  

“Oh yeah, and lighting cigarettes are a great use of magic.” 

Joleena glares at him and her eyes flash purple, her cigarette and its holder disappear in a burst of purple flames, “Satisfied?” 

“Don’t be like that,” Joe rolls his eyes, “There’s nothing wrong with using your magic for stupid stuff. I used to do it all the time.” 

“Is that why you can only do card tricks?” 

“Says Miss Flashy Hands.” 

Joleena’s eyes widen in surprise before she flushes angrily and tosses her hair in his face. Joe smiles, struggling not to laugh at how surprisingly fun it is to rile her up. But before he can push or more or apologize, the door opens and this time it’s a big, buff guy, a.k.a security come to kick them off the roof. 

“Well, I guess our time here is up,” Joe gestures toward the guard, “Security wants us off.” 

“Who? Oh,” Joleena cringes a little when she spots him too, “I suppose you’re right.” 

Joe looks at her a moment before holding out his hand, “You know, it was nice meeting you. Even if you’re a bit uptight.” 

Joleena’s eyes narrow but her lips curl up in a small smile. She grabs Joe’s hand and gives it a brief shake too, “And it was nice meeting you, Joseph. Even if you are an amateur magician.”  

“Ooh, ouch. You wound me.” 

Joleena gives a reluctant giggle and moves past security to go down the staircase. Joe starts to follow her but the guard quickly steps between them. Still, over the guard’s beefy shoulders, he could swear he sees her steal glances at him from time to time. He’s also really glad he got that card trick to work at least once. Because he doubts he’ll ever get a chance to impress her again.  


	5. Chapter 4

The convention is in full swing, all attendees and vendors fully immersed in their activities. But even if they weren’t, the bright fluorescent lights prevent anyone from seeing into the open rafters where he was hiding. He sighs, plugs in his headphones, and sets about his work. A few softly whispered words and a shadowy portal opens beside him. Shadows extend from his hands, reaching into the portal for him and taking out a grotesque green egg. It takes almost no concentration for him to use his shadow magic to carefully move the egg and place it on a beam. He didn’t need to worry about it slipping or falling off. Already the eggs are secreting some kind of sticky goo. He shudders but a few more whispers and more shadow hands start working.  

Turning up his music, he leans against a support beam and lets his eyes wander over the convention goers. Maybe seeing their faces will make him feel guilty enough to stand up to his parents and stop this here and now. And then his eyes land on someone. A cute girl with short brown hair and freckles dotting her cheeks. She was standing with a group of people he mostly didn’t recognize except for the headmistress, the target of the Sanction’s plan. Maybe he was too much of a coward to stand up to his parents, but there was something else he could do. He lifts his finger and makes a turning motion. Smoky shadows begin to swirl around his finger before forming a small, shimmering black flower. It settles on the palm of his hand until he whispers a few words to it and blows it towards the cute girl. It sails through the air unseen and unnoticed by anyone and lands in the pocket of the hoodie tied around the girl’s waist. Damien takes one last look at her, hoping that she’ll get the message, and allows the shadows to transport him away.  

* * *

 

* * *

After Joe leaves, the conversation gets boring pretty fast. It’s a lot of talk about politics and alliances and Fred is barely passing his U.S Civics class so he’s barely following along. But from the sounds of it, they’re all afraid that once regular people are allowed to start going to the Warper’s Academy, it’ll be the end of all time magic as they know it or something. Which doesn’t make any sense to him since he thinks it would be killer if there were more time travelers around.  

“This... Giles Valhos is an absolute menace,” Headmistress Westbourne was saying vehemently, “Not only is he the one advocating this change, but he’s also been the one pushing for my retirement.”  

“What’s so bad about that?” Fred asks, “When my granddad retired, he starting taking up golf and water polo. Retirement sounds like vacation for old- ow!” Jodie and Anna both elbow him at the same time and shoots them a glare, “If one more girl elbows me today...” 

“This isn’t just a matter of my retirement, young man,” the headmistress shakes her head at him, before addressing Uncle Joe and the chief, “It is beginning to get difficult trusting others outside of our own community. Sometimes I wonder if an even bigger separation of the magic arts is what’s called for here.” 

“That can’t be the solution,” Anna disagrees, “There’s no way things can be that bad in the magic community.” 

“A child like you is too young to understand,” Chief Bowie dismisses quickly, “The time travel community and the magic community have always been at odds since creation.” 

“Really? Why’s that?” 

“Because some believe that time magic isn’t as powerful as other magic,” Chief Bowie grumbles, “as if shaping history itself isn’t powerful.” 

“I mean, I’ve only seen Joe do something cool once,” Fred shrugs and looks at Jodie, “Do you have any cool time powers you haven’t told me about?” 

Jodie scoffs and flips her hair angrily, “I’ll have you know that I am very sensitive to the space time continuum.”  

“So, in other words... no.” 

“I think what we really need to do is unify the different magic classes,” Uncle Joe says quickly, “Which is why I’ve arranged a meeting with Lord Jeremy Beauchene. Or rather, I’ve arranged a deal with his daughter to arrange a meeting with him.”  

“I doubt he’ll take our plight seriously,” Headmistress Westbourne sighs, “But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try. Good thinking Magnificent. This is why we all we always rely on you. Just like when Jack-”  

"Let’s not rehash the past,” Uncle Joe says quickly, “I see the Lady Beauchene heading over with her father now.”  

“One of us should probably go find Joe,” Jodie sighs, “Like it or not this involves him too.” 

“I’ll go,” Fred volunteers quickly, “I’m sure he won’t want to miss out on all these politics.” 

Jodie and Anna give him a look which he of course ignores. He can’t help it if they’re putting him to sleep standing up. He hurries off like he’s eager to find Joe but slows down when he’s out of sight from the others. Fred wanders around the venue casually hoping to give Joe a few more minutes of actually enjoying the convention until they dragged him into the most boring conversation in the world. Heck, it was part of the reason why Joe said he quit magic in the first place. Fred could definitely sympathize. If he didn’t love playing baseball so much, he didn’t know how he would make it to six a.m. practices. He couldn’t imagine having the fate of the universe on your shoulders based on whether or not you can do some magic tricks.  

"Can you believe that the Warp Wizard’s assistant is here?” 

“She actually had the nerve to show up? Tell me they arrested her.” 

Fred slows to a stop as he catches bits of the conversation. Warp Wizard’s Assistant? Did they mean Fina? He had almost forgotten that she was tagging along with them. He finds the source of the conversation, a guy and a girl a couple of years older than him, and drifts closer to eavesdrop.  

“They’re probably too afraid to arrest her,” the guy was saying, “I mean, she somehow got rid of  _the_ Warp Wizard and didn’t even leave behind any evidence. I’d be afraid of her too.” 

“Hey Fina didn’t have anything to do with it,” Fred breaks in, “She totally helped me and my friends not that long ago.” 

The girl gives him a look, not at all looking impressed, “You actually know her? You better watch your back. I hear that she can actually hypnotize people.” 

“Look at her just standing over there,” the guy shudders, “Just watching everyone. She’s so creepy.” 

Fred looks where the guy is staring. Fina is a little ways away, leaning against the wall by herself, running her hands over her one of her braids over and over again. Her bangs are covering her eyes again making it hard to tell where she’s looking. Fred cringes inwardly. He hates to admit it, but she’s definitely looking a little creepy. That’s not her fault though. 

“Fina isn’t scary once you get to know her,” Fred tries to explain, “She’s just... awkward. Here, I’ll bring her over and I’ll prove it.” 

“No, that’s okay.” 

“We’d really rather you didn’t.” 

But Fred is already walking away and heads directly for Fina. He gives her a friendly smile and waves, but it’s hard to tell if she sees him or not because she doesn’t react.  

“Hey,” He says when he reaches her, “Can you come with me for a sec?” 

Fina raises an eyebrow, “Why?” 

“Just really fast,” He grabs her wrist and starts pulling her behind him, “There are these people who are just a little creeped out by you and think you had something to do with the Warp Wizard disappearing.”  

Fina immediately pulls her wrist out of Fred’s grip and stops walking.  

“I know,” She mumbles, her hands going back to pulling on her braid. 

“You... know?”  

“I was the closest one to him. When a wife goes missing the first person they suspect is the husband. With no other explanation, most people assume that I had something to do with it.”  

“But you didn’t, did you?”  

Fina shoots him a blaze of a look before letting her eyes drop, “No, I didn’t.” 

“Great, let’s tell them that.” 

Fred tries to grab her arm again but she quickly sidesteps him. 

“No, thank you,” She mutters quietly, “I couldn’t care less what people say about me. Besides the Warp Wizard will be back soon. He told me so himself.” 

“Sweet,” Fred shrugs, “I bet Joe will be happy to hear that. But in the meantime, maybe if you worked on being less creepy, people wouldn’t be all creeped out by you.” 

Fina stares at him with a stunned expression on her face, “I’m not creepy! Why do you keep calling me creepy?” 

“Uh because you act like, super creepy half the time,” Fred chuckles and playfully nudges her arm, “That thing you’re doing with your hands, it’s making me nervous. And you’re either glaring at people or just standing there with that blank look on your face. Would it kill you to smile?” 

Fina drops her hands, but fixes him with an irritated look, “You know that telling a girl she should smile is sexist?” 

“You know that glaring at people all the time is what makes them think you’re creepy?” 

She sighs in annoyance, blowing up her bangs for a moment, and lifts the corners of her mouth in a small smile, “Better?” 

“Better than your glaring? Yes.” 

Fina gives a small, reluctant laugh that she quickly covers with her hand. Fred smiles, feeling more relaxed around her and leans against the wall next to her.  

“By the way, you should totally join the girls' softball team,” He adds while he has her in a good mood, “that arm of yours is killer.” 

“I don’t do teams,” Fina dismisses quickly but gives him a curious look, “But if my arm is so... “killer” then why not ask me to join the baseball team period?” 

“Because it’s all guys on the team. And they play kind of rough. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” 

Fina gives him a look but before she has a chance to say anything, Jodie and Anna find them.  

“There you guys are,” Anna says, “We’ve been looking for you.” 

“I thought you were supposed to be finding Joe,” Jodie frowns at Fred. 

“Oh! Uh...” Fred rubs the back of his head, “I totally forgot.” 

“He’s on the roof,” Fina tilts her head to the left towards a door marked “Roof Access. Do Not Enter.” He’ll be down when he’s ready.” 

“And aren’t you guys supposed to be talking to Mr. Beauchene or whatever?” Fred asks.  

 “Lord Beauchene was no help at all,” Anna huffs, “He basically said the Warp Wizard needs to be the one to bring the community together. And then his daughter disappeared and he went off looking for her.” 

“Well that’s no problem, Fina says the old Warp Wizard is coming back anyway,” Fred says slinging an arm around Fina’s shoulders, “Right, Finn?” 

“It’s Fina,” She quickly shrugs off his arm, “And yes, the Warp Wizard will be back soon, but it isn’t a bad idea for Joe to become more serious about magic. It saves face if we at least look prepared.” 

“So, it’s settled. Let’s find Joe so we can actually make these people take us seriously.” 

* * *

They move down the stairs in silence. Or rather, the stairs move them down in silence. Either way, Joe’s meager attempts at placating the security guard falls on deaf ears. The guard is tall and buff, wearing all dark blue and has a gold and silver chain around his beefy bicep. He also has purple hair, braided tightly into cornrows. He was definitely doing his job at being intimidating. Even Joleena had lapsed into moody silence.  

“Sir, I really don’t see what the big deal is,” Joe starts, “We were just getting some fresh air. You should try it. I think it could really improve your mood.” 

The guard doesn’t turn around, but Joe swears he can see muscles flex.  

“You’re wasting your time,” Joleena sighs, “Jasper only follows one man’s orders and it’ll take more than your charming chatter to sway him.” 

“You know the convention security guards by their first name? I thought you said you’ve never been to one of these before.” 

“Who said Jasper was a security guard?” 

They reach the bottom of the stairwell and Jasper reaches in front of Joleena to open the door for her. The three of them step into the light and meet a crowd of people. Uncle Joe, Jodie, Anna, Fred, and Fina are the only people that Joe recognizes.  But the final person is a man so large he could be an ex-wrestler, wearing a fancy tailored suit with a gold chain around his waist, gold rings loading his fingers, and piercing amber eyes. And unfortunately, he was leveling a glare at Joe that could have melted an iceberg.  

“Oh papa, did you really have to send Jasper after me?” Joleena sighs actually addressing the huge man.  

The man breaks his glare at Joe and his eyes soften considerably when he looks at Joleena, “Sweetheart, you know I hate it when you disappear like that. It’s very irresponsible of you. And just who is this... young man?” At the last question, his glare is back on Joe.  

“Lord Beauchene, this is my nephew Joe, whom I was telling you about,” Uncle Joe says quickly, “he’s the next Warp Wizard.” 

“Y-you’re Lord Beauchene?” Joe’s eyes widen as he looks between him and Joleena, “Which makes you his... daughter...” Looking at them side by side, he can see the family resemblance now. No wonder why she’s dressed like she’s going to a business meeting. 

“And you’re the next Warp Wizard?” Joleena looks him up and down, “Hmm, I never would have never guessed.” 

Joe narrows his eyes angrily, “And what’s that supposed to mean?” 

Jasper suddenly clears his throat and whispers something to Lord Beauchene who nods and gestures to Joleena, “Come, daughter, we have other appearances to make. Good luck with your, erm, situation.” He barely spares everyone a half nod before leaving with Joleena and Jasper following behind.  

“Umm... does anyone want to tell me what’s going on?” Joe asks. 

 “If you didn’t go sneaking off with Lord Beauchene’s daughter’s you would know,” Anna rolls her eyes. 

Joe’s face flames, “I didn’t sneak off with her! It was a total coincidence.” 

“In either case, we can talk about this over lunch,” Jodie says, “My treat.” 

“Alright! Lunch!” Fred cheers, “I’m starving!” 

“You’re always starving,” Anna chuckles.  

“Uncle Joe, are you coming?” Jodie smiles at their uncle. 

“Oh, I wish I could but I’m afraid I can’t this time,” Uncle Joe gives a tired laugh, “there are still some people I need to speak to. But you kids enjoy yourselves.” 

Joe can’t say that he’s surprised, but keeps it to himself. His uncle was always busy, but after the way the headmistress and the chief treated him (when they were ragging on Joe), it made a little more sense why Uncle Joe was always busy.  

After saying bye to Uncle Joe, the four of them follow Jodie out of the convention and head a couple of blocks down to a semi-futuristic version of Ray’s pizza. Not much has changed except for the conveyor belt, the robot server, and the hovering tables with hovering seats. Jodie and Fred fight over what pizza to get until Joe delegates and orders half veggie and half sausage for everyone. While they sit at one of the floating tables and wait for their food to arrive, Jodie fills Joe in on what he missed while he was getting air. As she talks, he can feel his mood dropping. He came to the convention to learn more about being the Warp Wizard, now he was supposed to just jump into being some kind of figurehead?  

“Are you serious?” Joe groans and rubs his temples, “the headmistress and the chief don’t even like me. They can’t seriously expect me to help people take time magic seriously. If that’s even what I’m supposed to be doing.” 

“Dude, just do it until the old Warp Wizard comes back,” Fred says, “That’s what Fina says we should do.” 

“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” Fina adds gently, “You’re just a temporary replacement until the real Warp Wizard returns.” 

Joe just frowns. He knows by her tone that she means to be reassuring and it probably doesn’t help that he’s so indecisive, but being told that he’s just a temporary replacement isn’t exactly what he wants to hear either.  

“Oh my gosh! Is that him?” 

“It has to be. That’s why that Lord was talking to him.” 

Joe doesn’t even pay attention to the conversation behind him until two girls suddenly squeeze in on either side of him, pushing Jodie and Anna aside. The girls are twins with red hair, and were grinning at Joe like he was a celebrity or something. 

“Umm, can I help-” 

“I’m Sandi, that’s Cindi,” the girl on his left says. 

“Are you really the next Warp Wizard?” the girl on his right, Cindi, asks. 

“Uh, sorta I guess,” Joe shrugs, “how did you kn-” 

“How could we not know?” Sandi gushes. 

“You have to be like, the most powerful time magician ever,” Cindi giggles batting her eyes.  

“Uh... kind of...” 

Joe starts to shift uncomfortably. Usually, he would have loved this kind of attention, but Cindi and Sandi were starting to get awfully close to him. And whatever body spray or perfume they were wearing is getting cloying. He glances over at Fina who is watching them but doesn’t seem to be inclined to help.  

“Ugh, will you two give him space?” Jodie speaks up in annoyance, “And for your information, he can barely keep track of The Book when he warps.” 

Sandi’s eyes flick to Jodie and Joe immediately sees hostility spark between them.   

“You better watch how you talk to him, Jodie,” Sandi practically sneers, “He could change history so you were never born and not even the Time Police could stop him.” 

“Uhh, except that he wouldn’t because he’s my great-grandfather, you brainless twit.” 

“Great-grand-” Sandi’s expression is immediately transformed with a large fake smile, “Jodie, why didn’t you say anything. No wonder you’re so... great at time traveling.” 

“You know, I just had the best idea,” Cindi leans ever closer to him, “maybe you could use the Book and warp us somewhere cool. Like Fiji or Milan.”  

“Or maybe Buckingham Palace or the Taj Mahal,” Sandi adds batting her eye lashes.  

“I’d love to, I really would but...” Joe pretends to shrug helplessly, “my assistant Fina wouldn’t allow it. She’s very strict on who I take on warps.” 

“I don’t mind,” Fina says, “whatever you want to do, sir.” 

Joe gives her a deadpan look which she meets with an innocent smile. He can’t tell if she can’t tell that he just needs an excuse or if she’s getting back at him for not letting her follow him early.  

“So, it’s settled,” Sandi loops her arm through his, “let’s go right now.” 

“It’ll be so much fun,” Cindi loops her arm through his too, “Just the three of us.” 

“Actually, I forgot, that I have an appointment right now,” Joe quickly pulls his arms out of theirs and stands up, “I should probably get going now.” 

Anna rolls her eyes, “Joe, don’t be such a-” 

“We’ll go with you,” Sandi stands up too. 

“Yeah the Warp Wizard should always have an escort,” Cindi stands up too and grabs his arm again. 

“Thanks, but that’s more my assistant’s job. Right, Fina?” He gives Fina a more pointed look, hoping she’ll get the message. 

Fina stands up and nods, “if you wish, sir.” 

Cindi shoots her an annoyed look which Fina meets with bland innocence until Cindi looks away first.  

“We don’t mind, she can just follow behind,” Sandi adds quickly and grips Joe tighter.  

“Great,” Joe grumbles, “But you don’t really don’t have to come with me.” 

He shakes himself loose and quickly backs away from them, but they keep smiling and trying to get close to him again.  

“Oh, come on.” 

“Don’t be so shy.” 

“We don’t bite.” 

They giggle at that in a way that makes Joe cringe and he quickly leaves the pizzaria. He doesn’t really think about how to get back or get to Jodie’s place, he just wants to get away from them. Attention is one thing. He lived for it when back when he was a kid more serious of a magician. But somehow, this kind of attention makes his skin crawl. Maybe because they were fawning over him for something he hasn’t even done yet. It’s pretty obvious that these girls are only interested in a title he doesn’t even have yet. And it’s even more clear that they’re no friends of Jodie.  

But Sandi and Cindi keep up their flirting and chatting no matter how much Joe tries to gently turn them away, He glances back at Fina more than once, wondering if he can signal her to get rid of them, but she looks mildly distracted, playing with that ring hanging around her neck.  

“Look, girls,” Joe tries again, “I really hate to be rude, but I’m... meeting someone already.”  

“We can give you a ride,” Sandi says excitedly. 

“We have a brand-new hover car,” Cindi nods, “besides, walking on foot is so pedestrian.” 

“And maybe after your meeting, we could do something more... fun.”  

“Without your assistant though.” 

They both grab him again and Joe inwardly groans. There’s no way he wants to get in a car with them. But outwardly he smiles. “That’s totally unnecessary because...” He looks around for an excuse, any excuse to not go with them when his eyes land on the last person he expects to see.  

Two robots and Jasper stand behind her loaded with shopping bags while Joleena stands looking at a display window only two stores down. Seeing her, Joe almost completely forgets about the way she insulted him the last time they saw each other. Instead, he only feels relief at seeing someone who  _definitely_ doesn’t care who he is. 

“Because I’m meeting with her,” Joe finishes, gesturing towards Joleena.  

Sandi and Cindi both start to glare at her, but their expressions change once they get a good look at her.  

“Hey!” Joe quickly dislodges himself and hurries up to Joleena,  “I’m here for our... appointment.” 

Joleena gives him a weirded-out look, “ _excuse_ _moi_ _?_ ”  

Joe quickly lowers his voice and gives her a pleading look. “Go with it, please? These girls won’t leave me alone.” 

Joleena rolls her eyes, but smiles as the girls catch up, “ah yes, our... appointment. You are rather late,  _non?_ ” 

“Better late than never, right?” He answers throwing an arm around her shoulders, hoping that Sandi and Cindi will finally take the hint.  

Sandi and Cindi don’t look too happy but they don’t try clinging to him again. 

“Of course, he’d already be dating Lady Beauchene,” Sandi grumbles unhappily to her sister.  

Joe’s face heats up and he quickly drops his arm from Joleena’s shoulders. Maybe he gave them too strong of a hint to back off.  

“Dating?” Joleena laughs uncomfortably, her face just as red as Joe’s, “ _Non, non, non._ We are not dating.” 

“We just met today,” Joe adds.  

“Duh, Sandi,” Cindi elbows her, “They’re obviously keeping it a secret. We should leave them alone.” 

“Sorry to bother you Lady Beauchene,” Sandi gives Joleena a falsely bright smile, “We’ll leave you and the Warp Wizard alone.” 

“We aren’t dating!” 

“This is a misunderstanding!” 

But Sandi and Cindi are already walking away, giggling to themselves. Joe sighs in both relief and embarrassment and casts a sheepish look at Joleena.  

“Thanks, and sorry about that um... Lady Beauchene.” 

Joleena smirks a little, a teasing glint coming to her eyes, “No problem, Warp Wizard Joseph.” 

Joe smiles and playfully rolls his eyes, “It’s just Joe. I’m not exactly the Warp Wizard yet.” 

“And the Lady Beauchene is unnecessary. It is much too formal,” Joleena glances behind him and lowers her voice, “It seems that we haven’t gotten rid of all your admirers.” 

“Who? Oh,” Joe glances behind him at Fina, who is still waiting patiently, “No. That’s Fina my um, assistant-slash-bodyguard. It’s weird but she’s alright.” 

“Ah, you have a baby sitter too,” Joleena glances back at Jasper, “I can relate.” 

Fina clears her throat and steps beside Joe, “Sir, now that the girls are gone, did you want to head back to the pizzeria with the others? You haven’t eaten since breakfast.” 

As if he needed to be reminded, his stomach suddenly growls, “Some food sounds great right now. You wanna come?” He smiles at Joleena, extending an invitation to her.  

“Actually, I was on my way to a café not too far from here,” Joleena says, “Why don’t you join me?” 

“Um... okay.” 

“Perfect.”  

Joleena snaps her fingers and the two robots with her float over to Joe and hands him all of their shopping bags. 

“H-hey!” Joe grunts as he takes on the weight of eight shopping bags, “What are you-” 

“You owe me for playing along with your ruse, remember?” Joleena winks and waves away the robots, “I’ve been meaning to get rid of these things. They keep asking for my credit card information.” 

Joe gives her a deadpan look, “Really?” 

“Don’t worry,” Joleena brushes his arm, “I’ll feed you. Come, the café is this way.”  

She saunters away, not even checking to see if he’ll follow her. Joe rolls his eyes... and ends up following her anyway. He hates to admit it, but she did have a point. She did him a favor, it was the least he could do to carry some bags for her. Fina steps next to him and helpfully takes a few bags for him before drifting behind again. Jasper watches Joe like a hawk but says nothing. The four of them end up at a sidewalk café that was a little higher end than Joe was used to. Joleena steers him to a table for two while Fina and Jasper take a table a little away from them.  

“She seems to be well trained,” Joleena nods at Fina, “Have you had her for long?” 

“Well... no, but she’s been assistant to the Warp Wizard before,” Joe takes a cautious look around, “Is Mr.- I mean, Lord Beauchene around?” 

Joleena frowns in irritation, “Non, he had more... important matters to attend. Matters that don’t involve me, even though he dragged me here in the first place.” 

“Dragged?” Joe notices that her fingers are tapping on the table in a quick, angry pace, “What do you mean?” 

“I mean-” Joleena notices her tapping fingers too and carefully folds her hands instead, “Never mind. Did you know that smoking is banned in this time? Coffee too? You Americans are ridiculously stingy about these things.” 

“It’s not banned in my time,” Joe shrugs, “About a hundred years back, I think. Still, not exactly the best for your health.”  

“And I suppose all the junk food and fried food you Americans consume is?” 

Joe opens his mouth to argue but then closes it again. He hates to admit it, but she has a point. Not that he would ever tell her that. Another robot hovers over to them to take their orders. He’s tempted to order something greasy and deep fried, but there isn’t anything like that on the menu so he orders a sandwich and an iced tea instead. Joleena orders a hot tea and unsurprisingly a salad. She punches in a number and their meal is paid.  

“So, you’re supposed to be the next Warp Wizard,  _oui_ _?”_ Joleena props her chin on her hand and looks at him, “That’s interesting.” 

Joe’s annoyance from earlier comes back and he answers her sarcastically, “Yeah, really hard to believe isn’t it?” 

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Joleena laughs, “I wasn't trying to insult you.” 

“How am I not supposed to be insulted?” 

“From what I heard about the Warp Wizard, he’s supposed to be some elusive, mysterious figure. A serious, humorless old man who never leaves his tower.” 

Joe laughs unexpectantly, “That’s really what you thought the Warp Wizard is supposed to be like? Where did you get that from, a fairytale?” 

“Then why don’t you tell me what the Warp Wizard is supposed to be like?” 

“Um...” Joe’s laughter dies down and he rubs the back of his neck, “Actually... my assistant is probably the one you should ask.” 

“But who best to ask than the future Warp Wizard himself?” Joleena smirks and leans her chin on her hands, “Unless of course, you don’t know either.” 

“Well, maybe I don’t!” He snaps unexpectedly and Joleena instantly shrinks back in surprise. Joe feels his face heat up from shame and embarrassment and he quickly stands up, “Maybe I should go-” 

“Wait,” Joleena grabs his arm and looks up at him, “don’t go.” 

Joe takes a deep breath and looks down into her soft, brown eyes. She looks genuinely concerned and he feels something loosen inside of him. He sits down again, still feeling embarrassed for his outburst that he still isn’t sure where it came from.  

“Sorry,” Joe grumbles, staring hard at the table, “It’s just... the whole Warp Wizard thing is a bit of a touchy subject for me. I didn’t mean to snap like that.” 

“I know this might be a bit forward considering we just met, but...” Joleena shifts her hand from his arm to his hand, “Would you like to talk about it?” 

Joe drags his eyes from to the table to her face, ready to change the subject and divert the conversation to anything else. But Joleena gaze remains steadfast on his. There was nothing judgmental or pitying in her expression, just genuine interest in what he had to say. 

 So, he told her everything. Getting The Book when he was ten. His uncle quickly disappearing afterward. Going on crazy adventures with Fred and Sam, sometimes accidental, sometimes on purpose. Meeting their great-granddaughters and trying to find the time to study magic and reading The Book. He even told her about Mad Jack’s crazy obsession with him and The Book, his constant pursuit of him and his friends through time. As they ate he talked about becoming a Time Page, thinking that it would change everything, but when he tried studying with his Uncle Joe, his uncle was always running off on him and never finishing their lessons. 

Joe thought he would stop there, but it was like the floodgates had opened and he couldn’t stop. Joe kept going and told her about his final confrontation with Mad Jack after he had kidnapped Anna, Anna almost getting killed, and this terrifying power that Joe didn’t even know he had coming out of him. He told Joleena how traumatic that had been knowing he had the power to even do something as devastating and deadly like that, so he had backed off of magic. But then everyone except for Fred and Sam kept trying to drag him back into it despite him being rusty and unsure of himself. He even told her about England and San-Li suddenly going from potential friend to outright insane enemy.  

“So now there’s another crazy person after me, and everyone is expecting me to just waltz right into being the Warp Wizard, when I’ve been out of practice for years,” Joe finishes with a sigh, “I still love magic, I always have. It just... felt like I was over my head all of a sudden and just needed a break. And now I don’t know if I can even do this anymore.” 

He falls silent waiting for Joleena’s response. He had never told anyone, not even Fred and Sam, all of his worries and insecurities about magic. He always tries to play it off, be the easy-going one that everyone knew him to be. The easy-going person that he wants to be. Now he told this girl, someone who’s dad is supposed to be this powerful magician, and part of him is afraid that she’ll laugh at him or worse, think he’s pathetic.  

Joleena’s silent for a long time after he’s done talking, stirring the last remains of her probably cold tea.  

“That... is a lot,” she says finally, “But... I think I understand. It can be  _difficile_ to have that kind of pressure on you. Because I am a Beauchene, I am expected to be the best so my entire life I have been told anything less is unacceptable.” 

Joe gives a wry chuckle, “I have one uncle who is a children’s entertainer and another who was driven crazy by The Book. Neither of my parents even know about magic and yet somehow I’m the one with this big destiny.” 

Joleena giggles, “It seems like we both drew the short straw.” 

“Stick. But yeah I guess we did.” 

They fall silent for a moment, quiet but comfortable. Joe’s chest feels lighter than it has felt in a while. His best friends support him of course, but for the first time, he feels like someone honestly understands him.  

“But, if I may add... I feel like you might not be completely blameless in all this.” 

Joe’s smile freezes on his face, “Excuse me?” 

“Now don’t get offended...” 

“I already am.” 

“But I think a lot of your problem could have been prevented if you had studied your magic more.” 

“And here I thought I was starting to like you.”  

 _“Ne sois pas un bébé_ ,” Joleena laughs and slaps his hand, “I’m being serious.” 

“Are you?” 

“Yes,” Joleena’s tone becomes more serious as she smiles at him, “You shouldn’t underestimate yourself, Joseph. I know we’ve only just met, but I think you’ll make a great Warp Wizard. You already admit you love magic, non? You just need to take some responsibility and take yourself and your magic more seriously. I think if you were to just have a little faith in yourself, you’d be incredible.” 

 Joe feels the oxygen suddenly leave his lungs. He can only stare at Joleena as he takes in her words. Jodie and Anna chastized him, Sam and Fred sympathized with him. But Joleena is completely different. She didn't coddle him, but she didn't just dismiss his feelings either. It may not be what he wanted to hear, but maybe it's what he needed to hear all along. But what does he even do with that? Joe realizes that her hand is still on top of his, but he doesn’t make a move to pull it away. 

“Um...” Joe clears his throat which is suddenly grown dry, “T-thank you.” 

Joleena glances down and notices her hand is still on top of his too. But she blushes and quickly pulls her hand away.  

“Do you, um, mind if I try something?” She asks, “it’ll only take a moment.” 

Joe nods and Joleena takes her napkin and dips it in the remains of her tea. She then takes Joe’s hand and turns it palm side up.  

“I haven’t done this in years,” Joleena giggles and starts dabbing his palm with cold tea, “but it should still work.” 

“Are you about to read my palm?” Joe asks both surprised and interested, “I don’t know, Miss Flashy Hands, that sounds like a party trick.” 

“Hush.” 

Joleena puts down the napkin but continues holding his hand. With her free hand, her fingers hover over his palm. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, her soft brown eyes have a shimmer of purple over them. Joe falls silent and stares at her, mesmerized. Her fingers are hovering over his palm, definitely not touching it, but he swears he can feel her trace the lines in his skin.  

“You have a good heart,” Joleena’s voice is hushed as she traces a line from the his pointer finger towards his pinky, “It’s pure and deep and so open. When you build relationships, they last for life. Your life line,” she traces an arching line near the meat of his thumb, “is complex. Parts of it flow so easy, but other parts twist and tangle. Many changes seem to be in store for you, but they won’t alter who you are.” 

Joleena’s fingers then move to a new line in the center of his palm and a faint fine appears between her eyebrows. She hums and the shimmer over her eyes grow brighter, stronger.  

“Interesting,” she whispers in that same hushed voice. 

“What?” Joe whispers quieter than her.  

“You’re fate line. I can feel more than one fate. The fate of others before you. Different but the same. Past lives, past wizards,” the shimmer over her eyes become so strong that they become more purple than brown, “No matter where they start, their fate lines all go the same direction. Except for yours. Your fate line diverges in a way no wizards’ have done since the beginning.” 

Joe feels his pulse quicken and suddenly feels the urge to pull away, but Joleena’s hand tightens on his.  

“But don’t be afraid,” she adds quickly, “the connections that you make and the relationships that you build will help you overcome your greatest challenges. There is no need to follow the path of old. It is time for a change.” 

The shimmer from Joleena’s eyes suddenly disappears and she hisses in pain, dropping Joe’s hand to clutch at her temples. 

“Joleena!”  

Joe’s half out of his seat but Jasper is already by Joleena’s side with a glass of water.  

“ _Je_ _vais_ _bien._ _Je_ _vais_ _bien_ _,”_ Joleena mutters waving them both away. She takes a sip of the water Jasper brought her, “I just went too deep too fast. That’s all.” 

“That was some party trick,” Joe rubs his hand, still warm from her touch, “Is um... any of that true?” 

“As true as you believe it to be. So, I’m told.” 

Jasper suddenly clears his throat and leans down to whisper something in Joleena’s ear.  

“Oh, now he’s ready to spend actual time with me,” Joleena mutters irritably, “Fine. I suppose we can’t keep him waiting.” 

“You’re leaving?” Joe cringes at the disappoint in his tone and quickly clears his throat, trying for a more casual one, “I mean, yeah I should probably get going too. My friends are waiting for me.” 

They both stand up and Joe finds Fina already by his side. He shifts awkwardly on his feet, unsure what to do. Should they shake hands again? Hug? Make plans for another... appointment? 

“It was nice seeing you again, Joe,” Joleena speaks first, “A surprise but nice nonetheless.” 

“It was cool seeing you too. Sometimes insulting but still cool,” Joe teases back. He clears his throat, “So um... if you’re ever in 21st century Brooklyn, maybe you’ll look me up?” 

"Brooklyn?” Joleena raises an eyebrow, “I think I’ll pass. But if you’re ever in Paris or Milan, be sure to look me up.” 

“Probably not going to happen. We’re not all from wealthy elite magic families like you.” 

Joleena giggles and lays a hand on his arm, giving him a light squeeze, “ _Au_ _revoir_ _,_ Joseph.”  

They part at the café, Joe leaving with Fina and Joleena going the other way with Jasper. As he and Fina walk back to Ray’s, he can’t help but trace the lines on his palm. 

* * *

Anna is exhausted by the time she, Jodie, and Fina settle down in Jodie’s room to sleep. Jodie of course takes the bed leaving her and Fina to the portable mattresses but she doesn’t mind. The boys have to take the smaller guest bedroom anyway.  

“I’m tried but I don’t know how I’m going to sleep,” she gushes flopping back on her mattress, “I’m so excited to see more of the convention tomorrow.” 

“I’m glad you’re having fun,” Jodie yawns from the bed, “hopefully they’re be something more interesting tomorrow. Do you still have the program?” 

“I think it’s in my hoodie. I’ll get it.” 

Anna gets off her mattress and crosses the room where her bag is. She passes by Fina who’s barely said a word to either of them all day. She just sits on her mattress brushing out her curly blond hair. Anna feels a little bad for not trying hard enough to include her more in the conversation. She of all people knows what it feels like to be excluded. She doesn’t have the best time making female friends either.  

“So Fina,” she starts as she searches for her discarded hoodie, “Did you enjoy today?” 

Fina glances up looking mildly surprised, “I-It was alright I suppose. I only really go with the Warp Wizard to make an appearance and then we’re off again. But it was interesting... to stick around.”  

“What’s it like usually with the Warp Wizard? I’m dying to know!” 

Jodie smirks, “From the what that crazy San-Li girl was saying, I take it you two were pretty close?” 

The smile falls off Fina’s face and Anna shoots a look at Jodie who shrugs apologetically. Fina turns away but after a while, she starts speaking again.  

“The Warp Wizard and I are always close, that’s part of the job,” she says, “San-Li has always been a jealous child. A jealous, petty child.” 

“She seems... high strung,” Anna chuckles weakly and finally finds the folded program in her hoodie pocket. As she pulls it out though, a small, black fabric flower falls out too. She picks it up absently and brings the program to Jodie before settling back on her mattress.  

“San-Li’s more than high strung, she’s an aggravating nuisance,” Fina grumbles. She then gasps and covers her mouth as if she just let a profanity slip, “I um, should probably get some sleep now. Goodnight.” She then dives under the blankets and pulls them over her face.  

“Night,” Jodie chuckles and lays down too. “Lights off.” 

The lights dim down until the room is dark. Anna lays still for a while, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Speaking of dark, she remembers the black fabric flower and picks it up. She gasps softly. She didn’t notice before, but it the darkness it seems to shimmer ever so slightly. It’s delicate and soft as silk, but somehow almost intangible. It’s unlike anything she’s ever held before.  

“Where in the world did you come from?” 

She holds it up to her nose, wondering if it smells nice too, and it suddenly explodes in a silent burst. Anna’s scream of surprise dies before it can make it out of her mouth, her eyes drift shut, and she finds herself falling backwards.  

It feels like she falls a long way, surrounded by nothing but darkness, until.... 

 _The convention center is filled with people. Anna looks around but finds herself unable to move. She tries to call out but her mouth won’t open. Everyone seems oblivious to her presence. Anna holds her panic at bay as she realizes that she might be experiencing a vision or something._  

 _Suddenly, the large windows flash gray. A few people trying to leave the convention center to find that the doors won’t open. The lights all go out. Some people begin to panic but the real chaos doesn’t start until tiny, sharp clawed monsters drop from the ceiling. Anna immediately recognizes the large eared, fanged Gremlins. She gives a silent scream as they start attacking everyone. Clawing, biting, running around and destroying everything in sight._  

 _A stand from a banner falls and knocking over some electrical or magic equipment. Live wires spark and sputter and lash out at people._  

 _A stall of potions is knocked over causing a section of the convention to be covered in ice and snow. People turn into icy statues while some Gremlins have a snow ball fight._  

 _One of the florescent lights fall from the ceiling, crashing into a kiosk of scrolls. The sparks from the light catch fire to the scrolls creating a tower of blue flame and orange smoke. People who accidently inhale the smoke turn into frogs. They were the lucky ones. People who were so much as brushed by the blue flames catch completely on fire. The Gremlins cackle and roast_ _marshmallows_ _._  

 _Just when it seems like nothing else could go more wrong, a sudden shadow descends. A massive Gremlin, ten feet tall at least, swings down from the ceiling and gives a menacing cackle that shoots ice straight through Anna’s heart._ _It_ _bounces around gleefully, knocking over entire exhibits, clawing up the walls,_ _throwing_ _screaming_ _people across the room._  

 _And even though Anna couldn’t move, her vision suddenly zeros in to across the room. Headmistress Westbourne is trying to calm people down and lead them to safety. The giant Gremlin gives a grotesque grin and heads straight for her. Anna tries to call out a warning, but her voice still doesn’t work. The monster gives one swipe and the headmistress is knocked to the ground. She struggles to get up but before she can, the Gremlin’s leather hand has closed around her._ _It_ _lifts her up as she fights and beats on his_ _hand. The Gremlin seems to grin at her futile efforts before opening his cruel, fanged jaws and-_  

Anna suddenly sits up with a sharp gasp. Cold sweat runs down her neck and face and the room is completely dark. Heart pounding, she sits still as she tries to regain her senses. She’s still in Jodie’s room, Jodie and Fina seem to still be asleep. There’s no telling how much time has passed, if any time has passed at all. But one thing Anna is sure of-- she can’t let that vision happen tomorrow.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a lot of revisions and some complete directional changes but I'm really excited about this chapter and I think it's one of my best ones yet. Hope you enjoy and tell me what you think :)


	6. Chapter 5

There are significantly fewer people at the convention today, but that doesn’t stop Anna from being anxious. She knows what she saw last night wasn’t just a dream. It was too vivid, and she’s studied magic long enough to know a vision from a random dream. The problem was getting anyone else to believe her. She even talked to a security guard who all but laughed in her face. Now they were just browsing around the convention center like nothing is wrong. It sucks because Anna’s so wired up that she can’t even enjoy looking around this time. There’s an ache in her neck from constantly looking up into the rafters, but the lights are so bright that she can’t see anything. Anna frowns and looks toward the others. Jodie is browsing through scarves styled after different time periods. Fina is trying to explain to Joe and Fred how The Book isn’t the only magic way to time travel, but Fred looks like he’s the only one even half listening. Joe just looks distracted.

“Guys, I’m serious,” Anna says for the umpteenth time, “Gremlins are going to overrun the convention center and a lot of people are going to get hurt. I saw it last night and we have to do something about it!” 

Jodie sighs and gives her a sympathetic, but completely unbelieving look, “Anna, I’m telling you, it was probably just a nightmare. It was that creepy World War II exhibit.”

“I didn’t have a nightmare about World War II. I had a  _vision_ about Gremlins attacking the convention center!”

“Anna, you’re definitely thinking about that movie, Gremlins 2,” Joe stops looking around for a moment to fix her with an unbelieving look too, “Remember how much it gave you nightmares when we were little?”

“I am not a child, Joe,” Anna resists the urge to stamp her foot. The gesture would definitely make her look childish. She takes a deep breath and tries to sound reasonable, “Look, you had a vision about England, right? Didn’t that stuff turn out to come true?”

“Yeah but, that was different,” Joe mumbles looking distracted again.

“Different how?”

“I didn’t walk through a creepy England exhibit the night before.”

“Ugh!” Anna groans, “You are so frustratingly oblivious sometimes! Why is it so hard to believe that I can have visions too!?”

“It’s not that we don’t believe you,” Jodie says gently, “It’s just... actually having visions, clear vivid visions of the future, don’t just happen. It takes years of studying and honing time magic. The only reason why Joe was able to do it was because of the magic of the Warp Wizard.”

“Well... the vision didn’t just happen,” Anna explains, “there was this weird black flower and it exploded and knocked me out and...” she trails off when she realizes that everyone is giving her a weird look, “Never mind, forget the flower. I know what I saw.”

“Has anyone seen Uncle Joe?” Joe interrupts, “There’s something I want to talk to him about.”

“Uncle Joe!” Anna snaps her fingers, “He’ll believe me! Let’s go find him.”

Looking for Uncle Joe was easier said than done. Usually, her uncle sticks out pretty easily in a crowd with his top hat and eccentric mustache, but here everyone sticks out. Weird future fashions mixing with bizarre time travel outfits. They walk around a little too leisurely for Anna’s preference, and it still takes them a while to notice that Fina has slowed down considerably and is staring somewhere else with a fierce look of concentration on her face. 

“Hey Fina,” Joe calls back to her, “is something wrong?”

Fina immediately clears her expression and gives him a bland smile, “No sir, I just think I see someone I recognize. Would you mind if I go see him?”

“Um, sure, I guess. Want us to come with you?”

“Hey! I see Uncle Joe!” Anna points him out talking to a couple of older guys.

“No, you guys go talk to your uncle,” Fina smiles sweetly, “Fred, do you think you can come with me?”

“Uh, sure, whatever,” Fred shrugs, “We’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“Cool, later,” Anna says impatiently and immediately starts towards Uncle Joe with Joe and Jodie hurrying to follow behind. 

“Wow Anna, you're really wound tight,” Joe mumbles.

“Trust me, if you saw what I saw, you would be too.”

* * *

As soon as they separate from the others, Fina’s smile drops and she goes back to her intense staring. Fred inches away from her a little.

“Um... whoever this is, isn’t a friend of yours, is it?” he guesses.

“Not at all,” Fina mumbles, “He’s always been opposed to the Warp Wizard. Rumor has always been that he thinks no one should have that much magic. Which is why I want to know what he’s doing here. Come on.”

“If you’re so suspicious of him, then why did you want me to come with you?”

“Because Giles Valhos knows very well that I’m no fan of his. If he sees me by myself, he’ll be suspicious.”

Fred notices that Fina does stay half a step behind him. Suddenly, it seems like something cool is about to happen at this boring convention after all.

“So, we’re like spying on him?” Fred lowers his voice to a whisper, “You know, I think Giles Valhos is the guy the headmistress said wants her job.”

Fina’s lips tighten into a thin line, “Does he now?”

“I still don’t see what the big deal is, but apparently he’s not that popular. Which guy is he?”

Fina points out a middle-aged man with thick dark hair and carefully groomed beard, wearing black pants, a dark red shirt, and bright red suspenders. There’s nothing particularly sinister looking about him. In fact, he kind of looks like a teacher or principal or something. Giles is casually milling around like everyone else except he doesn’t look too interested in any of the exhibits. He does seem interested in talking to the younger time travelers though. 

“So, what do we do when we catch him?” Fred whispers, “Are you going to twist his arm like you did to me? I know how to do a submission hold.”

“You don’t need to whisper and  _we’re_ not going to do anything.”

“Fine, so what are  _you_ going to do?”

“... I don’t know yet.”

They pause nearby when Giles pauses, and don’t start following him again until he keeps walking. It gets boring pretty quickly. All Giles is doing is walking and talking. Fina’s not even doing that. She’s watching Giles like a hawk, her blue eyes sharp and focused. 

“Has this guy actually ever done anything bad?” Fred asks a little impatiently, “Because he seems pretty ordinary to me.” 

“It’s not about what he’s done, it’s about what he might do. He’s vocal about his belief that the Warp Wizard has too much power and yet there are rumors that he’s connected to some powerful, unscrupulous magicians.” 

“Ah. And that’s... bad... I think.”

Fina blows her bangs upward and flicks her eyes towards him for half a second, “More than one young time traveler has gotten lost in time, inexplicably given up on magic, or even turned to darker magic. And whenever that happens, he always seems to be right there, pushing his agenda.”

“Oh. That is pretty sketchy.”

They fall quiet again as Giles pauses and pulls a pocket watch out of his pocket. On the cover of the pocket watch is a carving of an eagle with horns inside of an upside-down triangle, surrounded by a piece of a snake. Giles opens the watch and his expression changes. He puts away the pocket watch and immediately heads towards the exit. 

“He seems to be in a hurry to leave,” Fred gives Fina a mischievous smile, “should we follow him?”

“This isn’t a game, Fred. He could be dangerous.”

“Aw we can handle it,” He jostles her arm playfully, “Come on, let’s go before we lose him.”

He heads out the door with Fina following close behind him. 

“Fred, slow down,” she hisses, “he might see us.”

“Relax. He won’t.”

The step outside a few moments after Giles does and a crowd of pedestrians going by on foot and on hoverboards separate them. Giles doesn’t go far. Fred quickly spots him crossing the street and heading into a fancy cathedral. 

“We’ll have to find o another way to get in,” Fina mumbles, “I don’t want to risk him seeing us.”

“I got it! Follow me.”

Fred leads the way across the street to the side of the cathedral where the garbage and fire escape usually are. There aren’t any garbage cans, but there is a fire escape going almost all the way to the top of the cathedral. Fred’s been up and down a lot of fire escapes before (mostly to escape his brother Mike), but even these look a little rickety for his comfort. Which is weird considering that they were in the future. But it’s not like a rickety fire escape ever scared him before. 

“You stay here while I climb up and see if there’s an open window,” Fred says starting to climb up, “Then I’ll open a lower one from the inside so you can get inside.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Fina hitches up her skirt and starts climbing too, “It’ll be faster and easier if we just go together.”

“Suit yourself.”

He climbs up the rickety fire escape with Fina easily keeping up with him. The pause on a landing when Fina catches a glimpse of Giles through one of the windows. She quickly jimmies the window open so they can get in before they lose him. They crawl through the window into a room furnished with an antique looking desk and bookshelf filled with thick books. The door to the room was open out to a hallway. 

“What kind of church is this?” Fred wonders out loud, “This looks like an office.”

“Ssshh!” Fina hisses sharply, “Giles passed by the doorway not that long ago. Come on! We have to follow him before we lose him. But be quiet.”

She rushes out of the room and this time Fred follows her. They stay far enough away that Giles doesn’t get suspicious but close enough to keep an eye on him. Weirdly, the hallways are lined with paintings and suits of armor. The place looks more like a museum than a church but Fred doesn’t say so loud again. Fina looks wound tight enough already. He doesn’t want her taking it out on him. Fina puts out her arm though stopping him from walking any further when Giles suddenly walks into a room at the far end of the hallway. 

“Hey, what’s the big deal?” Fred whispers, “I thought we were supposed to be following him.”

“He’ll see us if we just walk in the room immediately after him,” Fina explains, “Just give it a sec.”

“How long do we wait?”

“I don’t know.. count to thirty. Silently.”

Fred rolls his eyes but does what she says. He impatiently counts to thirty in his head but gets all the way up to forty before Fina moves again. She walks silently. Fred nearly strains his ankles trying to make his footsteps as light as hers. When they get to the door, Fina puts a finger to her lips, (needlessly telling him to be quiet yet again), and reaches up to grab the doorknob. She turns the knob so slowly that Fred nearly gets impatient enough to open it for her, but she gets it to open silently and cracks the door open just enough so they can see inside. 

It’s a meeting room with long tables and large windows. Giles Valhos is inside talking to two figures in black robes. No one notices that the door is open. 

“I don’t see the need for secrecy,” Giles says to the hooded figures, “Absolutely no one is suspicious. People are even agreeing with me that time magic is reaching its natural conclusion.”

“Is everything in place for the plan?” One of the hooded figures, a woman by the sound of her voice, asks. 

“Yes, yes,” Giles says easily, “Your son had no trouble planting the Gremlin eggs and he reported that no one saw a thing. No one is expecting an attack on a time travel convention. Who would bother?”

“If everything is going to plan, then what brings you here?” The other hooded figure, a man, asks. 

“I’d rather not be among the soon to come chaos,” Giles laughs and relaxes into a chair, “I’ll just wait here for a while until the little monsters inevitably break out of the convention center. The headmistress will be long dead by then and I’ll teleport back into the building. In the chaos, no one can claim that I wasn't present.”

Fina gives a sharp gasp, “I knew it! I knew he was up to no good.” 

“Wow, I guess Anna was right after all,” Fred whispers and pulls out his phone. “But we’re going to need evidence if we’re going to bust him.”

Fina barely glances at him, but then does a double take, “Fred, wait!”

Fred presses the button on his phone to start recording but realizes too late that the camera is in picture mode and the flash goes off with a loud noise. Giles nearly falls out of his chair and the two hooded figures vanish in a swirl of dark smoke. Fina gives Fred a deeply irritated look.

“Heh, heh, oops” Fred gives her a sheepish smile, “My bad.”

Fina only narrows her eyes and quickly stands up, leveling a glare at Giles.

“Oh, it’s you,” Giles laughs and strides over to them, “The Warp Wizard’s faithful little guard dog. Or are you a stray dog now that he’s gone?”

Fina’s eyes go a stormy blue, but she says nothing. 

Fred quickly stands up next to her though, “Hey, I wouldn’t be running your mouth if I was you. We heard all about your plan and we’re going to turn you in.” 

“Oh, will you now?” Giles smiles, “And who would believe you?”

“The new Warp Wizard. His little sister had a dream about your entire plan.” 

“Freeeeed,” Fina hisses, “Shut up.” 

Giles’s smile turns into a frown, and he gives them a cold look, “I guess I’ll have to do something about that, won’t I?”

“Ha! Good luck. Like we’re going to let you-”

“Fred!”

He hears a footstep behind him right before something hits him hard in the back of the head, and everything goes dark. 

* * *

Giles grunts in mild irritation and smooths back his hair. He had heard of the new upcoming Warp Wizard of course, but he had also heard he was little more than a child, barely adequate in magic. It would be a wrinkle in his plan indeed if it turns out he was proficient or had any aid. Speaking of which, he looks over at that aggravating Warp Wizard aid herself, still glaring at him even with her arms held behind her back by one of his goons on loan from the Sanction. Thankfully her more outspoken companion had gone down easily enough with a sharp blow to the head. His other goon on loan had his limp body draped over one arm and held securely to his chest. 

“You are such a nuisance, girl,” Giles gloats addressing Fina, “But I’m afraid you won’t be able to meddle in my affairs this time.”

“You really think your goon can hold me for long?” She deadpans, “I’ll break every bone in my body if it means stopping you. It’s not like it’ll kill me.”

“No, but I’m sure I can find great use for a girl who can’t die. I have the power and the mind to make your life existence very miserable indeed.”

Fina merely raises an eyebrow, looking wholly unimpressed. Giles bristles at her blatant contempt but smiles wickedly as he eyes the unconscious male. 

“While I know that direct threats mean nothing to you, an indirect threat might work better.” 

He nods at the goon who tightens his hold on the teenage male, crushing him against his chest until the boy unconsciously groans in pain. Giles turns to Fina, expecting a look of horror from her, but feels a disturbed shudder run up his spine at her cold expression, still fixed on him. 

“My man can and will crush your friend’s ribs you know,” Giles stresses, “And it won’t take long to suffocate him completely.”

Fina barely blinks, completely unfazed. She doesn’t even glance at her friend as he begins to struggle for breath. Then Giles hears a bone pop and realizes that Fina has been slowly twisting her arm, most likely trying to break out of her captor’s hold. Giles smiles easily again. 

“Do you really think you can break free before he dies? His lips are starting to turn blue.”

Fina’s cold expression finally breaks and she gives in, lowering her head in submission. 

“Good,” Giles nods to the goon who relaxes his hold on the boy. Even through everything he had remained unconscious.  “Now to put you both away so you don’t interfere with my plan further.”

He has the two of them brought into the chapel’s meeting room and tied back to back to a couple of chairs. He then leaves one of the goons to keep watch while he steps out of the room to make a new addition to his plan. Pulling out his pocket watch, he opens it and looks at the mirror opposite the watch face. A dark purple mist begins to swirl within the mirror’s reflection and then a voice begins to speak.

“Did you take care of the problem?” The voice asks.

“Yes, for now, but there might be a second opportunity,” Giles answers, “Apparently the new Warp Wizard is present at the convention as well as his sister who had a vision of our plan.”

“That sounds like a problem, not an opportunity.”

“It will be if we arrange another little... accident,” Giles chuckles, “I have captured the Warp Wizard’s assistant and a friend of her’s. If the upcoming Warp Wizard were to meet his untimely end, a new one would have to be appointed. And with her friend hostage, the Warp Wizard’s assistant will be under our control.”


	7. Chapter 7

 “Have you guys seen Fred or Fina?” Joe frowns and looks around, “I don’t see them anywhere.” 

It was kind of weird, usually, he had to beg Fina to give him some space, but now he couldn’t find her anywhere. The conversation with Uncle Joe had gone well, but now he wanted Fina’s input too.  

“Maybe they went back to my place,” Jodie shrugs, “I know I might go soon. Not much else to do here.”  

“Except, you know, saving everyone from-” 

“Anna! Geez!” Joe cuts her off, “Nothing is going to happen. You had a nightmare, not a vision. I bet you... two months of my allowance that there is not going to be some kind of monster Gremlin attack in this convention center.” 

 _CLANG!_  

A sharp metallic sound rings throughout the convention center making Joe jump. He looks around but only a few people seem to be interested in what that sound was. Everyone else is carrying on like nothing happened. He turns to Jodie. 

“Hey, what was-” 

 _CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!_  

One by one the windows turn gray, making the entire room grow dim. The overhead lights grow brighter for just a moment before short-circuiting all at once and going out completely. Before anyone has a chance to say anything, a sharp scream punches through the stunned silence. A woman begins to run through the crowd fighting with something scaly on her back. Her screams are joined by other loud screams and  _things_ begin to drop down from the ceiling. Clawed, scaly with large ears and sharp fangs.  

It’s like watching a storm cloud roll in. You can see the dark clouds and the rain sweep in like a curtain falling, but there was nothing you could do to get out of the way of the rain.  

The Gremlins come down just as Anna’s described except it’s a thousand times worse than any nightmare. They laugh as they attack people. High, manic laughter like they were actually having fun tormenting people. It doesn’t take long for the panic to set in and screams of fear and pain mix in with squeals and hisses. A stampede like a tidal wave sweeps through the room coming from all directions.  

“Anna! Jodie!” Joe yells but in an instant, he’s elbowed, pushed, shoved and completely loses them. He screams as a sudden sharp pain latches onto his calf. He looks down to see a Gremlin grinning at him, latching on to his leg with its tiny claws.  

“Hitch a ride?” It croaks and starts laughing.  

Joe screams and begins to run, trying to shake it off his leg, but it only laughs and latches on harder. 

* * *

Fred slowly feels himself coming to through a fog of pain. But then the pain starts to lessen as a small glow of warmth starts to take over. The warmth begins to spread and the pain eases. His body feels heavy and stiff. There’s a tightness and sharp pain in his chest and his head feels like it’s full of nails. He tries cracking one eye open but then squeezes it tight again with a groan when the light makes his head feel worse.  

“Don’t move,” A voice says softly near him, “It’ll make it worse.” 

Fred wants to ask what they mean, but his throat is dry and his mouth doesn’t want to cooperate. But as the mysterious warmth continues to move through him, he begins to feel more aware. Enough to realize that he’s sitting, and the reason why he feels so stiff is that his arms and chest are tied to something. Fred cracks open his eyes and everything comes back to him at once. Spying on Giles, discovering his plan and trying to take video evidence, getting caught and confronting him, and then- 

Fred’s first instinct is to jump up but he’s completely tied to what feels like a chair. He also realizes that the mysterious warm is coming from his hand and his fingers are laced with someone else's. He immediately jerks his hand away and hears an impatient sigh in response.  

“I wasn’t done healing you, yet,” It says, “Do you want to lose consciousness again?”  

“Fina?” Fred croaks as he recognizes the voice, “It’s that you?” 

“Yes, now hold still.” 

Her fingers snatch his back again and she holds his hand tightly. The warmth returns and Fred’s headache lessens.  

“Geez, what hit me?” He asks groggily. 

“One of Giles’s men,” Fina says tightly and pulls her hand from his. The warmth immediately disappears but Fred’s head feels better. “What’s more important now is that we have to figure a way out of here so we can warn the others.” 

“Yeah. Sure.” 

Fred looks around but doesn’t see anything that would be immediately useful. He flexes his arms thinking that maybe he could just break free but the ropes hold tight and the sharp pain returns to his chest.  

“Ow, how tight did they tie us?” 

“Tight.”  

“...yeah. I meant- never mind.” 

There’s something off about Fina’s tone but Fred is suddenly reminded of being in a similar situation. 

“Hey! Try rocking these chairs back and forth,” He says getting a head start, “One time, me, Jodie, and Sam got warped to prehistoric times and these cavemen tied us to an old tree. Sam came up with the idea to rock the tree so it fell over and we got free.” 

Fina doesn’t comment but starts rocking back and forth in time with Fred. After a few strong rocks, the chairs finally tip completely over and crash to the floor. Fred winces as the chairs shatter and a painful shock goes up his arm from hitting the hardwood floor, but at least the ropes are loose. 

“Well that hurt,” He mumbles standing up, “but at least we’re free now. You okay?” 

“Fine.” 

Fina stands up too and he notices dark bruises on both of her arms. He opens his mouth to say sometime but the bruises are already starting to fade. Fina notices him looking at her and quickly looks away.  

“Come on,” she impatiently brushes past him and heads out the door, “We have to warn the others.” 

As she walks, she’s absolutely, stone cold, silent. Not that she was ever much of a talker, but Fred could practically feel the ice coming off her in waves.  

“Are you mad at me?” He asks in genuine confusion, “Because you seem kind of mad at me.” 

“No.” 

Fred raises an eyebrow. She doesn’t sound not mad. And Fina isn’t even looking at him despite him walking right next to her. He racks his brain to see if he said something or did something to make her mad but comes up empty.  

“Are you sure? Because you sound pretty mad.” 

“I’m not mad.”  

He definitely heard the tightness in her voice that time, she was definitely mad at him for something.  

“You know, if you’re mad at me, you could just tell me.” 

“I said I’m not mad!” 

Fina’s voice practically explodes in the silent hallway. Her shoulders stiffen and her cheeks flush a bright pink before her steps speed up at a near run.  

“You sound pretty mad to me,” Fred mumbles, easily catching up to her, “Look, if this is about my phone going off and getting us caught-” 

“Of course, it’s about that!” Fina snaps, “I told you this wasn’t a game! I told you that Giles was dangerous! But you didn’t listen to me and you could have been killed. My one job,  _my one job_ , is to protect the Warp Wizard. I don’t need to worry about you too.” 

Fred almost stops walking in shock. He never knew that Fina could talk above a whisper let alone snap like that. But at least she’s talking now. He’d take angry Fina over silent Fina any day.  

“See, don’t you feel better now?” He says, “Now that I actually know why you're mad at me, I can actually apologize and we can get over it. I’m sorry for getting us caught okay?” 

Fina’s mouth draws into a tight line, but she does finally glance at him and gives him a tiny nod. Fred rolls his eyes in annoyance but at least they were getting somewhere.  

“You girls always make things so difficult,” he grumbles as they finally make their way outside, “Next time, it’ll be a lot easier if you just tell me that you’re mad at me. Trust me, I’ve had enough exes to know.” 

Fina makes a noise halfway between a scoff and a laugh. They make it outside and Fina immediately darts across the street, nearly getting hit by a hover car in the process. By the time Fred joins her at the doors of the center, she’s struggling with the door.  

“It’s locked,” An edge of panic creeps into her voice, “And my pass doesn’t work, and I can’t see into the windows.” 

“Here, let me try,” Fred brushes her aside and pulls on the doors. They really don’t budge. “Um... maybe they’re doing some kind of lock-in drill?” 

“Or maybe Gile’s plan has already started,” Fina pulls on her braids, “There has to be some way to get in.” 

People are giving her weird looks as they pass on the sidewalk but she doesn’t seem to notice them. Fred leans against the window, trying to see if he could see anything. He can definitely hear screaming. And weirdly enough laughing. But mostly screaming. His stomach clenches thinking about his best friend in the middle of whatever’s going on in there, but maybe things aren’t that bad.  

“It could still be okay,” He says mostly to himself, “The place is filled with people with magic powers or whatever. Some of them could totally take a couple of puny Gremlins.” 

“Time travelers don’t have that kind of magic,” Fina groans in frustration, “Most of them can only time jump limited amounts of time and space. They’re useless in a fight.” 

“Gee, way to keep a positive outlook. You must be great in a crisis.” 

Fina shoots him a murderous look and he quickly looks elsewhere. His eyes land on the roof of the cathedral across the street they just escaped from. Like a lot of old buildings in New York, the roof is curved up at a sharp upwards slope, kind of like a half pipe. Fred follows the line of the roof, across the street, and his eyes follow the arch to the smaller, upper windows of the center.  

“I think I have an idea,” He says.  

* * *

“GET OFF!”  

Joe thrusts his hand out in a panic and a sudden flash of green light bursts from his palm like a camera flash. The Gremlin howls in pain and finally lets go of him, running away in fear. Joe nearly doubles over in exhaustion. He had been running for what felt like an hour. His leg had gone numb while the Gremlin had a death grip on it, but now it flares back to life with pain and he feels warm blood running down it. It isn’t pretty, but it would have been a lot worse if he hadn’t been able to blast that thing away.  

“They hate bright light,” Joe stares at his palms before holding them out, “So maybe...” 

He aims at a group of Gremlins and tries to concentrate. He focuses his mind, trying to call on his magic to create that bright blast that scared off the Gremlin earlier. For a moment his palms tingle and begin to lightly glow, but there’s so much screaming, and panic, and a Gremlin running past him every second that the glow quickly fizzles out.  

“Ugh!” Joe groans in frustration, “What is wrong with me!?” 

“Joe! Look out!” Someone screams.  

Joe looks up in time to see a group of Gremlins tear loose part of a banner and swing down directly towards him with wild cries of glee. He lifts his hands to protect himself, but right before the Gremlins slam into him, his entire body is suddenly jerked to the side, making him lose his balance and falling while the Gremlins swing right by him.  

“Were you planning on just being hit? I knew you were an amateur but I didn’t take you to be insane as well.” 

“Joleena?”   

Joe looks up and sees her standing angrily over him. Unlike literally everyone else, there isn’t a single scratch on her. There’s barely even a hair out of place of her perfect hairstyle. The only sign that she’s affected by any of this is the look of terror on her face. He finds out how she looks so unscathed when a Gremlin tries running up to her, but with a flash, it’s immediately bounced off of some kind of personal force field. Both of her bracelets are glowing purple.  

Joe quickly stands up, “I- I was doing fine, just waiting for the right moment.” 

There is a loud groaning, creaking sound and one of the stands the banner was attached to begins to tip over.  

“That thing is going to crash any moment,” Joleena points out, “You have to do something.” 

"Me!? What am I supposed to do?” 

A Gremlin makes a leap at him but with a flick of her wrist, Joleena deflects it with her magic. Her bracelets momentarily stop glowing before lighting up again.  

“You need to figure out something,” she says impatiently, “Aren’t you supposed to be the Warp Wizard?”  

“You know, it’s really annoying when you point that out!” 

“It’s really irritating that you have all this magic, but don’t know what to do with it!” 

“TIMMBBERR!” A thousand little voices croak.  

Joe whips around just in time to see the stand falling directly on them. This time he doesn’t think, he just reacts. 

“STOP!” He shouts, raising his hands.  

A green glow comes over the stand and it freezes mid fall along with all the Gremlins on it. Before Joe can even feel relieved though, a crushing pain seizes his head. He cries out in pain and the light starts to short out.  

“Focus!” Joleena’s hands land on his shoulders from behind and he feels a surge of tingling energy go through him. His headache eases to a dull throb and the light around the stand grows brighter and even begins to sparkle. “None of us need you to have a little episode right now.” 

“Well thank you so much for being so helpful, Joleena,” Joe says sarcastically. 

“Just concentrate- ah!” Joleena yelps and clutches his shoulders a little harder.  

“Joleena!” Joe focuses on the stand he’s holding and grits his teeth, “Reverse!” 

The stand moves in reverse until it’s standing upright again. As soon as the glow disappears, the Gremlins scramble off shouting about the bright light. Joe drops his hands and immediately turns to Joleena. 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

“Just  _une_   _petite_ scratch,” Joleena winces and glances down at her leg. On her calf were shallow claw-like scratches, “One of those  _hideux_  things.” 

“Hey, now we match,” Joe laughs weakly gesturing to his own bloody leg, “but I thought you had some kind of force field around you. What happened to it?” 

Joleena tosses her hair and looks away, “My field takes a lot of concentration and I can’t very well concentrate on that when you need help too, can I?”  

“Gee thanks... I guess.” 

“Joe!”  

He whips around, hands raised, but lets out a breath of relief when he sees Anna and Jodie running towards him. Anna’s face has a couple of scratches and Jodie’s hair is in a mess of tangles and braids for some reason, but other than that they look no worse than he feels.  

“Jodie. Anna,” He wraps them both in a quick hug and steps back to look at them, “Jodie, what happened-” 

“A bunch of those little creeps thought my hair was their personal playground!” Jodie snaps, “I am using The Book right now and getting out of here!” 

“No!” Anna grabs at Jodie’s bag to stop her, “There are way too many of those things here. We can’t risk even one of those things going mid-warp with us.” 

“Where’s Uncle Joe?” Joe jumps back as three Gremlins run past him covered in jewelry and clothes, they no doubt snatched off other people, “He’ll know what to do.” 

“We lost him in the crowd but he probably when to warn the headmistress,” Anna winces and touches one of the scratches on her forehead. “Which means it might be up to us to stop all this.” 

“And how do we possibly do that!?” Jodie shouts. 

“Your dad,” Joe turns to Joleena anxiously, “He’s supposed to be a super powerful magician, right? He has to be able to do something!” 

“My father is, not here,” Joleena looks uncomfortable, “He elected not to attend today. I snuck out and came anyway.” 

“Joe,” Anna anxiously grabs his arm, “You have to do it. We saw what you did to that banner stand. You just saved a lot of people from being electrocuted.” 

“That wasn’t exactly all me,” Joe mumbles. 

“It doesn’t matter. I know what’s going to happen and you can help stop it.” 

Someone runs by screaming, covered head to toe in Gremlins. A group of kids huddle under a table while one of their parents wrestle with a Gremlin trying to scratch his face out. Joe grits his teeth and nods.  

“Alright, tell me what to do.” 

“Over there!” Anna points to an area of the convention floor where there are several stalls selling potions and powders. “Those things are going to knock them over and create a mini snowstorm.” 

“Got it. Joleena, you come too. I might need your help again.” 

“Me?” Joleena takes a half step back and looks even more terrified than before, “I-I can’t. I don’t- I’ve never-” 

“We don’t have time for one of your episodes, Joleena,” Joe throws her words back at her, but then gives her an encouraging smile, “You can do this, you’re a Beauchene remember?” 

Joleena’s lips press into a thin line but she lifts her head proudly, “But of course.  _Allons-y.”_  

She sticks close to Joe as the four of them rush over to the market part of the convention center. As they run, she helps deflect any Gremlins that try to attack them. They reach the potion stalls just as the monsters really start to have fun. They’re throwing potions at each other like water balloons, turning each other and anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire different colors, textures, and even forms of matter.  

“That’s it!” Anna points to a stall about to collapse under the weight of too many Gremlins.  

“STOP!” Joe holds his hands out towards it and it freezes in place. The strain is a lot less this time, but he realizes that he can’t move without letting it collapse. He turns to Anna, “Now what?” 

Anna opens her mouth to answer but screams when a Gremlin throws a red potion at her that bursts into bright flames. Joleena thrusts her hand out in a panic and the fire explodes brightly before going out completely and causing several Gremlins to evaporate with screams of pain and nearly singeing Anna too. 

“Sorry!” Joleena bites her lip and looks at Anna, “I didn’t mean to-” 

“That’s it!” Anna exclaims though, “Joleena, do you think you can do that again?”  

“ _Ou-oui_ _,_ I suppose so.” 

“Jodie, help me gather more of those red potion bottles. Joe holds on a little while longer. Joleena, protect him.” 

Joe feels his head begin to throb but ignores it, “I’ll try.” 

“O-kay.” Jodie and Joleena both look scared but do as Anna says.  

Joleena steps closer to Joe and blasts any Gremlins that try to attack him. Joe’s headache increases and the glow begins to fade until Joleena puts one hand on his shoulder and uses her other one to keep fighting Gremlins. But was it just him, or was her magic starting to dim too? 

“Okay, I think we have enough,” Anna comes back with Jodie carrying a bunch of potions. “Now, throw them at the base of the stall, where it’s going to fall. Joe, when I say so, let go. And Joleena, use your magic on the fires again.”  

Joleena stares at Anna like she’s insane, “ _Es-_ _tu_ _sérieux!?_ Do you know how dangerous mixing that kind of magic can be?” 

“Just do it!” Anna snaps and begins throwing the potions.  

Jodie hesitates for only a second before following suit. Joe looks at Joleena and nods. 

“She knows what she’s doing,” he says.  

Joleena doesn’t look happy but reluctantly nods back. Once Anna and Jodie finish throwing all of their potion bottles, there’s a small fire around the stall. Joe lets his hands drop with an exhausted breath and the stall collapses into the fire. At the same time, Joleena builds up her magic with both hands before firing it at the fire. The potions collapse into the fire at the same time Joleena’s magic meets the flames. There’s a giant explosion of ice and flame and light that blinds Joe for a moment. When he’s able to see again, Joleena is in front of them with both arms out to the side and a purple shield surrounds them. The floor around the four of them is scorched, icy, and cracked. The shield flickers before shattering and Joleena falls to her knees with a groan. 

“Joleena!” Joe runs to her and puts his arm around her shoulders, “Are you okay?” 

“I... told you... that was dangerous,” Joleena groans again and stands up.  

“But it worked. Look!” Anna gestures around them. Aside from the damage to the floor, everything else looks unharmed. People that were screaming and being attacked only a few seconds ago, stand around blinking the sudden spots out of their eyes. The Gremlins themselves are now just gooey puddles and skeletons. At least in their area. The rest of the convention was still swarming. It was a start though. 

“Do you think we can do that again?” Joe asks looking at Joleena, “We might be able to get rid of all of them with a big enough blast like that.” 

“ _Non._ Absolutely not,” Joleena vehemently shakes her head and gives Anna a look, “We were lucky to survive that being so close to it. I was barely able to diffuse it at the last minute. Or else we would be similar to those little puddles.” 

 Anna gives her a stubborn look, “What matters is that it worked this time. We’ll think of something else. Right now, we have to move. A light fixture is going to fall on a kiosk of scrolls and cause a magic fire that won’t kill the Gremlins but hurt a lot of people.” 

They move to the next location just as the light fixture Anna talked about creaks and starts to fall. Joe stops it mid-fall with his time magic and reverses it so that it goes back up. But before the cables can reattach themselves, he feels something give inside of him and his magic fails. Before it can fall again though, Joleena throws her gold bracelets at it. As the fly through the air, they open and expand to enormous size, pinning the light fixture to the ceiling. Joleena stands holding her hands up to hold the bracelets like mounting clamps while Jodie and Anna organize people to move the scrolls a safe distance away.  

“Sorry,” Joe pants feeling weak and winded, “I don’t know what happened. I had it but-” 

“You don’t practice your magic enough, that’s what happened,” Joleena snaps in a strained voice, “I warned you this would happen.” 

Joe finds the energy to glare at her, “I really don’t need your ‘I told you so’s right now.”  

“Okay, you can let go!” Anna calls over, “It’s all clear!” 

Joleena lets go and the light falls to the ground, crashing and exploding in a bunch of sparks. More Gremlins are disintegrated into goo, but a lot less than last time. Joleena calls her bracelets back to her and sways on her feet. Without thinking about it, Joe puts an arm around her to steady her.  

“ _Merci_ ,” she mumbles looking as weak and as tired as Joe feels. 

“Yeah, sure,” Joe quickly removes his arms once it's clear she isn't going to fall.  

Jodie and Anna come up to them, scratched and bruised and tired-looking too.  

“Please tell me that’s it,” Jodie groans, “There’s no way we can keep this up forever.” 

“I don’t know how we can stop all of them, but there’s one more thing we have to take care of and-” 

“AAAHHHHH!” 

An ear-shattering scream cuts Anna’s sentence short. There’s a thunderous grinding noise and a large part of the rafters collapse, falling to the ground and seconds later, a colossal Gremlin, ten feet at least, descends from the ceiling.  

"HEEEEY!” It grins and booms in a high-pitched voice. 

“Oh no no no no!” Anna pales and takes off at a run in its direction.  

“Anna get back here!” Joe takes off after.  

When she reaches the massive Gremlin, he can see why she’s so panicked. The Gremlin looms over Uncle Joe who has his pen sword out, standing protectively in front of Headmistress Westbourne. Chief Bowie lays unconscious several feet away. A bunch of headless and limbless Gremlins lay at Uncle Joe’s feet but even Joe can see that his pen sword isn’t going to do anything against this behemoth. Uncle Joe spots Anna and Joe and looks even more horrified.  

“Joe! Anna! Stand back!” He yells.  

The monster Gremlin starts to turn towards them, but Uncle Joe swipes at it with his sword. It hisses in pain and bats Uncle Joe away like a fly. 

“UNCLE JOE!” 

He flies through the air, unconscious from the blow, but before he can hit the ground, a soft purple glow comes over him and gently lowers him to the ground. Joe turns around and sees Joleena standing beside him, lowering her hand. Before he can thank her, a sudden explosion from a different light fixture falling blows hot air and debris around them. The monster Gremlin, who had been reaching towards Headmistress Westbourne, suddenly straightens and sniffs the air. It keeps sniffing, turning this way and that until it turns completely around and his eyes land on Joleena. A hungry look comes to its eyes and it licks its grotesque lips. 

“Yuummm, yuuuummm,” It croaks. 

Joe feels his blood run cold as it hits him all at once. The roof. The wind. Joleena’s hair. The smell of vanilla. 

“Joleena! Watch out!” 

He reaches for her, but the Gremlin is fast and snatches her up in one clawed hand. 

“JOLEENA!” 

It’s the worst kind of de ja vu. A nightmare de ja vu a thousand times over. Uncle Joe lying unconscious on the ground. Joleena struggling in a giant monster’s grasp. People he loves, people he cares about being in danger and he feels completely useless. He should have listened to Anna. If they couldn’t get everyone out then he could have at least made sure that her, Jodie, and Uncle Joe were out of harm’s way. But it was worse than that. A bunch of other people is still being chased and terrorized by a thousand little Gremlins. And the monster Gremlin still has Joleena in its hand, her struggles are getting weaker. Anna screams suddenly. She’s on the ground trying to kick away a Gremlin biting her ankle. There’s another scream. Jodie kicks away a Gremlin trying to peek up her skirt.  

Joe’s stomach clenches. There has to be something he could do. Bright light. They hate bright light. His magic, if he could even use it, was nothing but bright light. If only he wasn’t so weak! He needed some kind of jump charge. Just one good jump charge.  

A subtle spark catches the corner of his eye. A cable from the fallen light fixture is dangling close to the ground only a few feet away from him. It throws out occasional sparks giving Joe an idea. If he can use the cable to jump-start his magic, then maybe he won’t be so useless after all. Trying to gather any magic as he has left, Joe runs to the sparking cable. Anna finally kicks away the Gremlin and sees what he’s about to do. 

“Joe, don’t!” She yells.  

But it’s too late. Joe ignores her, puts as much magic into his hands as he can, and grabs onto the cable.  

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” 

Intense, searing pain races through his veins. Every molecule of his body feels like it’s being torn apart. Everything is heat and light and color. Joe feels his magic like he never felt it before. His magic courses through every part of his body. He grits his teeth and holds on tighter. The electricity becomes his magic, his magic becomes electricity. Joe feels it shoot from himself and through the cable, through the ceiling, and through each and every light in the building. And every single light turns back on. More than that. The lights grow a brighter and brighter green until it becomes near blinding.  

Each and every single Gremlin begins to howl in pain. Their bodies convulse and they to run but already their bodies are melting. Even the giant Gremlin begins to howl and disintegrate.  

Numbness begins to take over. Joe feels like he’s outside his own body before slamming back to reality and suddenly he’s sent flying from an explosion from the cable. He crashes hard into a pillar and slumps down onto the floor before blacking out. 

* * *

Fred hauls the biggest shield they could find off of a suit of armor and drags to the roof where Fina is standing with a sword. She’s holding both hands up with her thumb and forefinger out trying to measure the distance between their spot on the roof, right before it slopes to the highest, non-grayed out window of the convention center.  

“There,” Fred sets the shield down with a grunt and wipes the sweat off his forehead, “This should be big enough. It will definitely carry me over.” 

“What about both of us?” Fina mumbles quietly.  

“Um,” Fred gives her a quick look over. He doesn’t know how much she weighs, but she’s pretty slim and petite. And the shield is about as big as a medium sled. The kind you can get for twenty bucks at the store. “Sure, you can fit. You sure you want to though. It might be dangerous.” 

Fina gives him a look, “I’m not worried about that. You ready?” 

“Yep.” 

Fred carefully aligns the shield on the beginning of the slope, aiming towards the window. He really hopes it was just a regular window. He’s seen a bunch of movies where the hero crashes through the window at the last minute and saves the day, so hopefully, future windows weren’t made of something stronger than regular windows. Other than that, he couldn’t see any problems with his plan. He sits down at the front of the shield, keeping to steady with one hand and gestures to Fina with the other hand.  

“Get on.” 

It’s a tight squeeze but Fina gets on behind him, wrapping around arm around him to keep herself steady. 

Fred nods, “Okay, on my count. One, two, three!” 

He pushes off with his hands and the shield moves forward a few inches then slows. Fina begins to uses the sword like a paddle though until they pick up speed and then more speed. Even with both of their weight, the shield speeds down the slope of the roof like it was gliding on ice. Fred lets out an excited whoop, feeling like a real action star until they run out of roof and suddenly find themselves midair. As they shoot through empty space, Fred’s excitement turns into terror. There’s a solid window in front of them and a hundred-foot drop below them. How could he possibly think this was going to be like the movies? But then at the last second, right before they hit the window, Fred feels his shoulders behind pushed down and Fina leaps over him like a game of leapfrog. Sword still in hand, she curls her body and crashes through the window seconds before Fred does.  

* * *

“Joe? Joe!” 

“Wake up, Joe!” 

“What were you thinking? You could have gotten killed!” 

“Come on, Joe! Wake up! You have to wake up!” 

Faces swim before his eyes before coming into focus. Jodie and Anna are standing over him with matching worried expressions on their faces and tears in their eyes. Joe blinks and feels himself coming together. Like a 3D image when you put the glasses on. 

“Wha-what happened?” He coughs feeling literal smoke come out of his mouth, “Is everyone okay?” 

Anna makes a small sobbing noise and envelops him in a hug, “You’re such an idiot.” 

“I agree,” Jodie wraps him in a tight hug too, “But you saved everyone.” 

Joe hugs them back before looking around. The windows are still gray, but all the lights are on in the convention center. People are walking around dazed with leftover fear, but all the Gremlins are melted piles of goo and skeletons.  

“I- I did it?” He croaks, half not believing it himself.  

“Yes, in the most reckless, most dangerous, most... amateur way possible,” A sharp voice rings out.  

Joe gets to his feet shakily as Headmistress Westbourne comes toward them. Anna and Jodie both start to defend him, but she holds up her hand to silence them. 

“However,” Her stern expression softens with a smile, “That was an incredible display of magic and quick thinking. We are all in your debt young Warp Wizard.” 

“Thank you,” Joe says with some uncertainty.  

“I shall hope to see you improve on your skills, that we may cross paths again,” the headmistress gives a low bow before limping off, shouting orders to get people organized.  

Joe shakes his head in wonder, but all he can really feel his relief. He suddenly remembers his uncle though. “Uncle Joe!”  

His uncle is groaning but is conscious by the time they reach him. There’s blood on the side of his face but other than that he doesn’t look seriously injured.  

“Nephew?” Uncle Joe blinks up at him in confusion, “Are- are you children alright? Is the headmistress alright?” 

“Thanks to Joe, everyone is safe and the Gremlins are goo,” Jodie gives him a proud look, “He saved all of our lives.” 

“Joleena!” Joe gasps and jumps up. He looks around wildly for her and feels his stomach sink when he sees the pile of goo and bones that used to be the giant Gremlin. He races towards it, terrified of what he might see when he gets there. 

Joleena is laying in the middle of the gooey mess, unmoving. Joe’s heart nearly stops as he kneels next to her and lifts her into a sitting position, supporting her shoulders with his arm. He looks down into her still, bruised face. She may have saved his life, and his uncle’s. If she’s dead- if he was too late- 

“J-Joe?” Joleena’s eyes crack open and she looks up at him. 

“You’re okay,” Joe breathes a sigh of relief and smiles, “You’re actually okay,” 

Joleena gives him a soft smile before her expression hardens and she hits him in the arm, hard. 

“OW!” Joe shouts in surprise, “What was that for!?” 

“Okay?  _Okay!?”_ Joleena yells at him angrily, “Do I look  _bien_ to you? Look at me! This was a Gucci sweater! And now it’s ruined, Joseph!” 

Joe’s jaw drops in shock, “I-I- just saved your life! A little gratitude would be nice.” 

“Gratitude!? For ruining a three-thousand-dollar outfit? I should send you my cleaning bill!” 

“You know what?” Joe lets go of her shoulders, letting her fall back into the pile of goo. “Next time a giant monster tries to eat you, don’t come crying to me.” 

He gets up and walks away from her, back to his family. He feels a splatter of slime hit his back, but he forces himself to count to ten and keep walking. Jodie, Anna, and Uncle Joe are huddled together talking with serious expressions on their faces. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” Joe asks.  

“We’re trying to figure out how this happened,” Jodie explains, “This couldn’t have been just some freak accident.” 

“That monster’s original target was the headmistress,” Uncle Joe strokes his mustache in thought, “The answer lies in who would want to hurt her.” 

Joe notices something dark move in the corner of his eye. He turns to see a shadow appear out of nowhere and a man step out of it. His eyes widen in surprise as he sees the mess around him and he pales when he sees that Joe watching him. 

“Giles Valhos?” Uncle Joe says in confusion.  

The man, Giles, turns tail and begins to run but then, out of nowhere it seems, Fina and a screaming Fred come crashing through a window high above them on a metal shield. Giles manages one terrified, surprised look before Fina lands directly on him, sending them both tumbling. Fred continues flying through the air on his make-shift sled until he crashes into a stall.  

“Fred!” Jodie and Anna shout.  

Fina straddles the back of the now unconscious Giles with a sword thrust into the floor very close to his neck. Her deadly expression makes it seem like she’s seconds away from moving that sword a few inches closer. 

“Fina!?” Joe stares in shock at the usually meek blond girl.  

Fina’s jaw clenches for a moment before her expression clears and she stands up. She goes up to Joe and offers him a small bow. 

“I’m so sorry I left you, sir,” She says in a wavering voice, “But Fred and I followed Valhos and overheard his entire plan. I’m sorry we were too late to stop it.” 

Joe shakes his head though and squeezes her arm, “Geez, Fina. I’m just glad you two are okay. But what do you mean you heard his plan?” 

“It’s true, dude,” Fred says hurrying up to them. “Me and Fina overheard everything. This was planned so that he could take over as Headmaster of the Warper’s Academy. He was even planning on killing you. I even got a picture of him talking to his accomplices.” 

He pulls out his phone and shows everyone a picture of Giles talking to two black hooded figures. It was hard to see their faces, but a symbol of an eagle with horns inside of an upside-down triangle, surrounded by a piece of a snake stands out clearly on both of their cloak sleeves. 

“Hmm, that picture looks familiar,” Uncle Joe muses, “May I borrow that for a moment? I want to show it to the chief and some Time Agents.” 

“Sure. Knock yourself out.” 

Uncle Joe walks away with Fred’s phone. Fred turns to Joe excitedly.  

“Pretty cool huh?” He says gesturing to the broken window near the ceiling, “It was my idea.” 

Joe gives a low whistle as he eyes the distance and the fact that the window is nearly completely gone, “Sam would have had a heart attack.”  

“It was nothing for the two of us. Right Fin?” He gives her a friendly pat on the back but frowns when his hand comes away bloody. “What the-” 

“Um, Fina?” Joe cringes, “You’re um, bleeding everywhere.” 

“Oh?” Fina calmly looks down at herself and turns this way and that. In the light, you could see several glints out glass sticking out of her. When she turns around though, you could see several, much bigger shards sticking out of her.  

“I hadn’t noticed. I’m sorry, sir,” she says simply before starting to pull them out one by one. 

Joe looks away quickly. Seeing her do it once was enough for him, but he notices Fred staring at her in complete shock and horror. 

“That’s why you jumped in front of me wasn’t it?” He asks stunned, “So you’d hit the glass first. You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” 

“Yes. Sir, do you need me to heal you?” She addresses Joe this time.  

“N-no, I’m good,” Joe says, hoping she would ignore his leg, “But can you check on my sister and Jodie first? They got scratched up pretty bad.”  

“Yes, sir.” Fina gives another bow and leaves to go to Anna and Jodie.  

“Wh- hey- are we just going to ignore that?” Fred stammers, “That crazy girl purposely jumped through a window like a lunatic!” 

“I thought you said that was your idea?” 

“Yeah, but- but-” Fred shakes his head, “that was before I realized how crazy it was.” 

Joe just laughs and shakes his head. It freaks him out too, but he figures they’ll just get used to it eventually.  

After Fina finishes healing everyone who needs it, giving Joe a pretty annoyed look when she finds out about his leg, they all get together again; Uncle Joe, Jodie, Anna, Fred, Fina, and himself. They watch as Giles Valhos gets arrested by Time Police still protesting his innocence. Everyone else tries to use what magic they can to clean up and cover up before it gets out. Joe feels too wiped to even think about cleaning. The weight of the entire day is making his legs feel like jello and his head is starting to swim. Uncle Joe offers to cover for them so they can warp home without being missed. Jodie eagerly pulls out her Book so she can warp them home so she can go home too. As the green mist swirls around them, this time Joe can barely feel it.  

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Three days later:  

"Fred, seriously,” Sam gives him an annoyed look, “I’m supposed to be helping you with your AP Statistics, but I’m doing it for you again.”  

“Mm mham, Mm mham,” Fred says with his mouth full of cookies, “Jhmst lme me finmish emning.” 

“Isn’t that your tenth cookie?” Joe laughs.  

Fred finally swallows before taking a big gulp of milk, and grabbing another one, “I can’t help it. Fina’s cooking is sooo goood. These are literally the best cookies I’ve ever eaten.” 

“Whatever keeps you quiet,” Fina brushes the crumbs off her paper like she’s annoyed but Joe can spot the small, pleased smile on her face.  

Joe shakes his head in amusement and tries to follow along with Sam as he goes over the assignment. Things have quickly gone back to normal. Well, almost completely normal. His hair pretty much sticks up on its own now, and if he eats too much sugar his face will start to twitch, but other than that things were pretty much normal again.  

The front doorbell rings and Joe starts to get up, but Fina does first. She comes back a few minutes later though and says it’s for him.  

“Thanks, Fina, but you know I could have answered it myself you know,” He says heading to the door. 

“It’s my job, sir,” She bows before sitting back at the table. 

Joe rolls his eyes and goes to the door which Fina left cracked open. He opens it wide and sees the last person he expects to see. Jasper doesn't smile when he sees him, he just gives a small nod and holds out a folded piece of paper towards him, before walking and getting into the fancy Mercedes parked in front of his house. 

“Hey wait!” Joe calls after him, but Jasper is already driving off.  

Joe shrugs and looks over the paper in his hand. It’s folded like a letter; ‘Joseph Arthur’ is written in fancy girly handwriting on the front and its held closed with a wax image of a rose and the name Beauchene underneath it.  

He frowns. Only one person calls him Joseph. “I swear Joleena if this really is a cleaning bill...” 

He pops open the seal and unfolds the letter.  

 _Joseph,_ It reads,  _It seems my father has heard of your impressive display of magic and how you saved everyone. Myself included. You have caught his attention. I’ll be in contact._  

It’s short and only signed with a single letter, J and a phone number. Joe stares at it a little longer even though it’s really to the point. Short, professional, and to the point. Short, professional, and nothing else. It sounded like her dad made her write it. Probably not even her personal number. Most likely some sort of business line. But still... Joe smiles a little as he detects the scent of vanilla wafting off it.  

“Sir?” 

“Ah!” Joe jumps around and guiltily stows the letter behind his back.  

Fina gives him an odd look, “Um, I wanted to remind you that we should get going soon to meet your uncle. Should I take that for you?” 

“What? This?” Joe laughs and quickly shoves the letter in his pocket. “It’s nothing. Come on, we should get going.” 

They go back into the kitchen and start packing their things. Fred and Sam are already packed and ready to leave after they leave. Fred has a bag of Fina’s cookies in his hand.  Today was Joe’s first day of restarting magic lessons with Uncle Joe and he feels a little nervous.   

“So, you’re actually going to get back into it huh?” Sam asks nervously as Joe locks up.  

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Joe takes a steadying breath and turns to Fina, “You ready?” 

Fina gives him a small bow, “whenever you are, sir.” 

They say goodbye to Fred and Sam in front of Joe’s house and go their separate ways. As Joe and Fina walk toward the bus stop, his nervousness begins to turn into determination. That Gremlin attack will be the last time he was going to be caught unprepared and near helpless. He proved that he could do it. He might actually be able to be the Warp Wizard someday. The thought makes him smile and his hand goes to the letter in his pocket.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done! I agonized so much over this chapter you wouldn't believe it. I really hope you guys like it and please don't be afraid to tell me what you honestly think. Hopefully I'll have the next story posted soon. Thanks for reading.


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